Chaenomeles cathayensis Plants - Outdoor GROW TROPICALS
Chinese Quince

Chaenomeles cathayensis

£11.99
Very hardySun-lovingLoved by pollinators
Pot size
9cm / 0.5L £11.99

FREE tracked delivery on orders over £60

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Description

Chaenomeles cathayensis, the Chinese quince, is the flowering quince scaled up to architecture: an upright, sparsely-armed large shrub with narrow willowy leaves, dressed in earliest spring with white blossom flushed shell-pink, and hung by autumn with the largest fruits in the genus, aromatic golden quinces to 15 cm that perfume a whole kitchen.

It is H6 hardy, unfussy about soil, and quietly spectacular twice a year: March blossom for the first queen bumblebees, October fruit for the jelly pan. Cooked, the fruits make exceptional membrillo and quince jelly.

How and where to grow

  • Position: sun to part shade; sun ripens fruit best.
  • Soil: any reasonable soil, clay and chalk included.
  • Size: to 3-4 m, upright then arching.
  • Hardiness: H6, fully hardy.

Grow it as a specimen, a productive boundary, or wall-trained beside the loquat and feijoa on the edible exotics shelf. Its earliest nectar earns a place among plants for pollinators within hardy exotics.

Nursery-grown young plants. Season notes in the seasonal expectations guide.

Live Arrival Guarantee

All plants are covered by our 7-day live arrival guarantee. We pack every order in protective, sustainable packaging designed to keep your plants safe in transit, and every plant is checked before it ships. On the rare occasion something is not right on arrival, we will make it good, provided the plant is still in its original nursery pot.

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What to Expect

Seasonal by nature: what to expect

  • Grown outdoors, the way nature intended. Weather-tested and hardened in real UK conditions, so they thrive in your garden. A few marks on the older leaves are normal, the sign of a tough, real plant rather than a flaw.
  • It follows the seasons. Depending on when you order, your plant may arrive cut back, dormant or leafless. That's healthy: dormancy is the ideal time to plant.
  • Posted, not posed. Big leafy plants like bananas and gingers may be trimmed or gently folded to travel safely. It does the plant no harm, and it powers away again in spring.

Not sure what to expect from yours? Dormant, cut-back or weather-marked plants are all perfectly healthy and normal. Read what to expect through the seasons

Delivery & returns

Order by 1pm Monday to Friday for same day dispatch. Every plant travels in protective, plant-safe packaging with tracked delivery.

Changed your mind? See our Return Policy.

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How to care for Chinese Quince

Plant me in full sun and the coldest UK winters do not worry me.

In their words

What our customers say

Arrived just like the photos - maybe even fuller. Healthy, well-acclimated, and straight into my collection with no issues.

Emily P.

Flawless leaves, stunning variegation, and clearly cared for by experts. It’s already a talking point in my home office.

James R.

Hard to find rare plants that are pet-safe. Ours arrived in perfect condition and looks amazing without any worry.

Sophie L.
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About Chinese Quince

Chaenomeles cathayensis needs full sun or partial shade and moist but well-drained soil. It is very hardy, standing the coldest UK winters outdoors.

Good for

Exotic Borders Wildlife & Pollinators

Hardiness

TenderVery hardy

Hardy Exotic (H6): down to around −20°C. Hardy through a very cold winter.

Fully hardy, H6; a mountain Chinese species that treats UK winters with indifference. Read moreShow less

Fully hardy, H6; a mountain Chinese species that treats UK winters with indifference.

Position

Full sunPartial shadeSouth-facingWest-facingEast-facingShelteredExposed
Full sun to partial shade; fruit ripens best in sun. Read moreShow less

Full sun to partial shade; fruit ripens best in sun.

Soil

ChalkClayLoamSandMoist but well-drainedWell-drainedAcid pHAlkaline pHNeutral pH
Any reasonable soil, including clay and chalk; avoid waterlogging. Read moreShow less

Any reasonable soil, including clay and chalk; avoid waterlogging.

Watering

Water for the first summer; thereafter essentially self-sufficient. Read moreShow less

Water for the first summer; thereafter essentially self-sufficient.

Mature size

Height3-4 m
Spread2-3 m

Reaches full size in 10-20 years

Growth habit

Bushy

Flowering

Mar-Apr · White, Pink

Seasonal colour

Foliage

Deciduous

Pruning

Thin and shape after flowering; wall-trained plants spur-prune in summer.

Toxicity

Fruit is edible cooked; seeds should not be eaten in quantity. Light thorns on mature wood.

Native range

China

Family

Rosaceae

Also known as

Chaenomeles cathayensis

Genus

Chaenomeles
Good to know

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Chinese quince?

Chaenomeles cathayensis is the giant of the flowering quinces: an architectural, sparsely-thorned large shrub with narrow willowy leaves, white blossom flushed pink in earliest spring, and the largest fruit in the genus, aromatic golden quinces up to 15 cm that perfume a room.

Can you eat the fruit?

Cooked, absolutely: too hard and astringent raw, the huge fragrant fruits make exceptional quince jelly, membrillo and additions to apple pies, and a bowl of them scents a kitchen for weeks.

How hardy is it?

H6, hardy anywhere in Britain; the earliest flowers can be caught by frost in cold pockets, costing some fruit but never the plant. See our seasonal expectations guide.

Where should I plant it?

As a freestanding specimen, in a mixed boundary, or trained against a wall where the early blossom shows. It joins the loquat and feijoa on our edible exotics shelf.

Is it good for early pollinators?

Excellent: the blossom opens from March, sometimes February, offering nectar when queen bumblebees first fly. An underrated recruit for our pollinator collection.

Is it very thorny?

Lightly armed rather than vicious: scattered spurs along mature wood. Enough to make it useful as an intruder-resistant boundary, civil enough to pick fruit from.

Does my plant come with a pot?
Your plant will arrive in its nursery grow pot — the plastic pot it's been growing in. We don't include a decorative pot as standard, and there's a good reason for that: it means you get to choose one that fits your space and style, rather than being stuck with something that doesn't suit your home.

It also means you're not paying extra for a pot you might not want. The nursery pot is perfectly fine to keep your plant in for a while, just pop it inside a decorative cover pot or cache pot and you're good to go. When you're ready to repot (usually after a growing season or when roots start poking out the bottom), you can move it into something more permanent with fresh soil.

If you're not sure what size cover pot to go for, check the pot selector tool listed above, you'll want a decorative pot that's a centimetre or two wider than that to give it a comfortable fit.
How big will my plant be when it arrives?
Every plant on our site includes the pot size (e.g. 12cm) and, where possible, an approximate height. That's the most reliable way to set your expectations, photos can sometimes make a plant look larger or smaller than it really is.

If you're thinking "that sounds quite small for the price," here's something worth knowing: younger, smaller plants almost always adapt better to your home than larger ones. They adjust faster to your light and humidity, put out new growth more quickly, and tend to establish stronger root systems long-term. A plant that grows into your space will usually outperform one that was already big when it arrived.

That said, every plant is an individual. The one you receive may vary slightly in height, shape, or fullness compared to the photo, that's the nature of living things, not a quality issue. We select healthy, well-established specimens, and if you ever feel your plant doesn't match what you were expecting, just get in touch and we'll take a look.
What makes your plants different from the supermarket or garden centre?
There's a big difference between a plant that's been sitting under on a retail shelf and one that's been looked after and cared for by people who specialise in exactly this.

Our plants are grown in house or sourced from specialist nurseries, many of them varieties you simply won't find at your local garden centre or supermarket. Before anything leaves us, it's checked over by our horticultural team to make sure it's healthy, well-rooted, and ready to thrive in your home. We're not shifting volume off a pallet, we're choosing plants we'd want to keep ourselves.

When you buy from a supermarket, you get a plant and a generic care label. When you buy from us, you get the knowledge that comes with it, detailed care guidance, a team you can actually contact if something isn't going right, and the confidence that what's arriving has been looked after properly from the moment it was grown to the moment it reaches your door.

We're a specialist nursery first, not a retailer that happens to sell plants. That's the difference, and you'll see it the moment you open the box.
What should I do when my plant arrives?
First things first, unbox it as soon as you can. Plants don't love being in dark boxes any more than you would, and the sooner yours is out and breathing, the better.

Remove all the packaging carefully, give the soil a check with your finger, and water lightly if it feels dry. Then find it a spot with appropriate light, but avoid putting it straight into harsh direct sun or next to a radiator. Think of it like arriving somewhere new after a long journey: it needs a moment to adjust.

It's completely normal for your plant to look a little tired or droopy after transit. This is called transit stress, and most plants bounce back within a week or two. You might see a yellow leaf or some drooping, don't panic, and resist the urge to overwater or start repotting straight away.

Our advice for the first couple of weeks: leave it in its nursery pot, water it only when the top layer of soil feels dry, and let it acclimatise to your home's light, temperature, and humidity. Once it's settled in and showing signs of new growth, you can think about repotting or moving it to its permanent spot.

Every plant we sell comes with a care guide on the product page so you'll know exactly what it needs going forward. And if anything doesn't look right, get in touch with our team, we're always happy to help.
Will my plant survive being shipped?
Yes! and we go to serious lengths to make sure of it. Every plant is hand-packed by our team with protective wrapping and secure, custom-designed boxes to keep it stable and safe in transit. We've shipped hundreds of thousands of plants across the UK and our packaging methods have been refined over years to handle the bumps and jolts of delivery.

During colder months, we monitor weather forecasts and offer heat packs where needed to protect against frost. In extreme conditions, we may hold your order for a day or two rather than risk sending it out, we'd rather you wait an extra day than receive a stressed plant.

That said, plants are living things, and the occasional transit wobble can happen. If your plant arrives damaged or isn't in the condition you'd expect, just get in touch within 48 hours with a photo, and we'll make it right, whether that's a replacement or a full refund. No fuss.

The short version: we treat every box like it's going to someone who really cares about what's inside, because it is.
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Packaged with Care

Packaged with Care

Every order is hand-packed in eco-friendly, protective packaging - refined through thousands of deliveries to ensure your plant arrives healthy, hydrated, and looking its best.

Backed by our Live Arrival Guarantee.

Perfect for Gifting

Perfect for Gifting

From rare collector’s pieces to easy-care favourites, our plants arrive fully potted and ready to enjoy. Add a personalised note at checkout for a thoughtful finishing touch.

Delivered fresh, beautiful, and gift-ready.

Sustainability at Heart

Sustainability at Heart

All plants are ethically sourced from trusted growers, never wild-collected. Every order ships carbon-neutral in minimal-waste packaging.

Good for your home - and the planet.

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Chaenomeles cathayensis
£11.99