Chaenomeles superba Nicoline - Flowering Quince

The Chaenomeles x superba Nicoline is a vigorous and sturdy variety of Japanese Quince, with a brilliant flowering in late winter. Its large single flowers, or occasionally semi-double, display a scarlet red colour that stands out on its leafless branches. The fruits, which ripen in October, resemble small, yellow and very hard apples. Curious gardeners can prepare them as jelly, although their fragrance does not match that of true quinces. While this flowering quince is not a rare shrub, it possesses undeniable charm and is one of the strongest and most robust ones that can be offered to a garden. It only fears excessively chalky and dry soils. To the point that it sometimes survives in the middle of brambles, in old abandoned hedges.

The Chaenomeles x superba is a horticultural hybrid obtained around 1900 by G. Frahm in a German nursery. It is the result of a cross between the Chaenomeles japonica, the true Japanese quince, and its close relative, the C. speciosa. These two shrubs from the Rosaceae family are native to East Asia and perfectly resistant to cold.

The 'Nicoline' cultivar is a suckering shrub, with fairly rapid growth, and a very dense, rounded to slightly spreading habit. At maturity, it reaches about 1.50 m in height and 1.75 m in width. Its flowering takes place in March-April, depending on the region, just before or at the same time as the appearance of the foliage. On its previous year's branches, adorned with long and slender sharp thorns, flowers measuring 4 cm in diameter bloom in clusters of 3 to 5. Cup-shaped, they consist of 5 to 8 bright red petals surrounding a heart of yellow stamens. They are followed by the formation of globular and fragrant fruits, measuring 6 cm in diameter, and yellow. Its deciduous foliage, which falls in winter, is dark green, sometimes tinged with purple on young leaves. The entire, elongated oval-shaped leaves measure from 3 to 6 cm in length.

The Japanese Quince Nicoline can be used individually, in massifs, in a free or defensive hedge, or even in containers on the terrace or balcony. It is also appreciated by bonsai enthusiasts. In a defensive hedge, it can be associated, for example, with rugosa roses, barberries, Poncirus trifoliata, Pyracantha, hawthorn, holly, or sea buckthorn Hippophae rhamnoides... Two or three vigorous climbing roses like 'Mermaid' or 'Paul's Himalayan Musk' placed among these shrubs will further discourage wanderers or opportunists of all kinds from coming to eat your strawberries, flowers, or apples...

An extract called cananga oil is obtained from the fruit, which should not be confused with the one derived from Cananga odorata, the Ylang-ylang. It is also a medicinal plant.