Our japonica, a flowering quince, is in bloom. I love the bright red waxy petals, they look almost edible, I wonder if they are – I know some flowers can be eaten, I wonder if it is the same is ornamental shrub? Its proper name is chaenomeles, and it comes from eastern Asia. I don’t know when it arrived in Britain, I would guess in the eighteenth century… maybe earlier. I think it is a wonderful shrub, not always with bright red flowers, sometimes with orange, or pink, or white… or any shade or mixture between and of the three!
It is related to the quince, although a different variety; it was developed for the lovely flowers, not the fruit. However, the fruit is edible, and a couple of years ago our shrub was prolific! I used the fruit in jam, in cooking for pie or crumble filling and I have a yen to make wine from it but I don’t really know enough about wine making. The fruit has a peppiness which I really like, you can’t eat it raw, it’s beastly uncooked!
Lois Elsden 