Japonicas/Japanese Quinces

Japonicas are always so pretty in late winter to early spring, when they flame. They are quite drought-resistant, once established, but not indestructible; so they do fare better with some summer water. The red and pink ones seem much tougher than the pure white variety sold. I observed the white flowered shrubs to be of smaller stature, and much thirstier--less hardy-- than the others; the reds, pinks and corals.

Japanese Quince flowers attract honeyeaters; so that's a plus for hungry birds in late winter (when food seems hard to come by!). A drawback is that the fruits are attractive to Queensland Fruit Fly. The small yellow fruits, however, do have a sweet perfume, and make nice short-term paperweights--inspiring to any writer. Such a delicious fragrance. The fruits are very hard to cut, but are edible when cooked. Bill Mollison recommends them in his edible landscaping book, Permaculture One. They are very sour, but one fruit cooked with a batch of apples gives a dessert a nice tang. You'll certainly need some sugar! It's amusing and interesting to try, anyway. I enjoyed the sting of them in apple pies.

It's fun to grow them from seeds, though it does take a couple of years before you can check out the first blooms. Put the seeds in the icebox for a few weeks as they like a blast of cold to help them germinate well. I was lucky enough to grow a red one that had a slight purple tinge to it. Quite unusual. I'm sure it would be possible for plant breeders to to come up with a bright purple one. Japonicas are an essential source of colour in the dry climate cottage garden. If you are short of space, be bold and plant a pink and a red one in the same hole. That'll guarantee you a showy display! You've gotta have colour; and bare branches covered in flaming red japonica blooms are one of the outstanding sights of late winter.