When most plants are dormant, these shrubs put on a show! Here's how to differentiate between flowering quince and camellia.
Flowering Quince Shrub Identification
Grow a flowering quince shrub in growing zones 4 to 8. Make sure you have enough space for this shrub before you plant it; it can grow 6 to 10 feet high and nearly as wide.
Known for its hardiness, this tough plant blooms in winter and spring and brings in hummingbirds and butterflies. In early spring, prolific 2-inch-wide flowers bloom in shades of red, pink and white, before the leaves appear. Quince is deciduous, with glossy green oval leaves on its spiny branches.
Yellow, apple-like fruit appears in the fall. The fruit is hard and bitter when raw, but it’s great when used for jellies.
Camellia Sasanqua Identification
Grow a camellia sasanqua shrub in zones 7 to 9. Similarly to flowering quince, it can grow high, but not quite as wide. This shrub grows 6 to 14 feet tall, but 5 to 7 feet across. Gardeners favor this shrub for its beautiful flowers, which usually appear in late fall and winter. These blossoms are large but short-lasting, so you’d want to choose a different bloom for a cutting garden.
They range in color from white, to pink, to red, and their petals are cuplike or frilly. Despite the flowers lasting only for a few days, pollinators stop by.
Sasanqua is evergreen, with small oval leaves that grow up to 3 inches long. Some types have a woody brown fruit in the fall. Humans wouldn’t eat it, but songbirds and squirrels eat the seeds from the fruit.
Flowering Quince vs. Camellia: What’s the Difference?
If both are in bloom, differentiate between these two shrubs based on the shape and size of their flowers. Camellia’s flowers are larger than quince’s, and they have a “frilly” appearance as compared to quince’s “flatter” petals. The colors of the fruit differ, with some camellias boasting brown fruit while quince’s fruit is yellow.
For another camellia option in your yard, you might consider C. japonica. It thrives in similar conditions as C. sasanqua, but its flowers are considerably more flamboyant and bloom later. Blooms can reach nearly 6 inches across and feature double or semidouble petals.
Sources
- North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, “Camellia sasanqua,” and “Chaenomeles speciosa“
