Um, My Quince is Blooming

Flowering quince, Chaenomeles, is a welcome reliable bloomer in late Winter and early Spring. Our ten-year-old shrubs bloom even in snow and during ice storms. The red or orange apple-like flowers appear on nearly bare branches and bring hope that Winter might end soon.

But, it’s not Winter! It’s just September, and our quince is flowering. Is that okay? It’s 92 degrees F outside! Is the plant going crazy? Has climate change suddenly happened in our backyard? Is this a harbinger of strange events? What is going on? Rest easy and enjoy, gardeners.

Wise gardeners call this reblooming phenomena an “encore performance,” and that certainly sounds harmless! Many Spring-blooming plants experience these encore performances; azaleas, spireas, hydrangeas, and roses occasionally rebloom in late Summer or Fall. Even peach, pear, and apple trees display this characteristic, so do not worry!

Late Summer reblooming can be due to flowering plants’ intense desire to survive. Flowers produce seeds, seeds produce new plants, and life goes on. Fall reblooming might decrease the number of flowers that can appear in Spring, but there is absolutely nothing we can do about that. God is still in perfect control, even over quince blooms. We trust Him to do the right thing.

Encore performances could result from environmental stressors that cause some plants to drop their leaves early. These stressors include hot weather, abnormally dry conditions, low soil moisture, insect damage, or physical or chemical damage to the plant. Above-average hot dry weather here in July and August probably caused our quince to form blossoms in September.

So, what can we do about our quinces’ encore performances? What should we do? What will we do? Nothing! We cut a few blossoms, brought them inside, and show them off in a cobalt blue vase. We will enjoy them while they last. The plants will drop their leaves early, be unattractive for a while, and fully recover for full flowering in January. That seems like a mighty fine response to stressors!