Meech's Prolific quince trees

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• Self-fertility: Self-fertile
• Awards: Slow Food - Ark of Taste

Meech's Prolific is a popular quince variety, ripening at the end of September or early October in most locations. The fruit should be picked and then stored in a cool place for a few weeks - it is ripe when it turns a golden yellow color. The fruits have a distinctive fragrant smell and is ideal for culinary purposes, either on its own or mixed with apples.

The tree also produces attractive spring blossom, and has some ornamental value in the garden.

Meech's Prolific quince trees for sale

Pot-grown

All our pot-grown trees are grown for us to our specification by the Frank P Matthews nursery.

All pot-grown trees are suitable for planting out in the garden, some are suitable for growing in containers.

• PG12-year bush-trained 12L pot-grown tree Quince Eline rootstock£57.50
  Grown for us by Frank P Matthews nursery
  Medium tree (2m-3m after 10 years)
  

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• PG2Premium half-standard 12L pot-grown tree Quince A rootstock£63.50
  Grown for us by Frank P Matthews nursery
  Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)
  

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Bare-root

• BR11-year bare-root treeQuince A rootstock£39.75
  Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)
  

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Need help? Ask our fruit tree experts

Call us on 01759 392007 or fill in our contact form.

Tree specification

Photos of trees as supplied | Tree sizes and forms

Next deliveries

Order now for delivery from week commencing 24th February.

Delivery charges

Delivery for a single tree starts at £9.95, it is calculated based on your postcode.

Growing and Training

Quinces start fruiting after they are about 3-5 years old, but Meech's Prolific is notably precocious and sometimes starts fruiting after 2-3 years. Meech's Prolific is, as the name suggests, a heavy cropping variety - to get the best flavour and fruit size it helps to thin the crop in May if it looks like there are too many fruitlets.

Like most quinces, Meech's Prolific prefers a warm dry aspect but can be grown successfully throughout most of England as long as you take care over its location.

Meech's Prolific is self-fertile and no pollination partner is required. It still requires good spring weather for successful pollination, but is one of the better quinces in this respect.

Once established it generally requires little or no pruning.

History

Named after a 19th century quince enthusiast, William Witler Meech, from New Jersey, USA. In 1888 Meech published a book called "Quince Culture" which remains one of the most comprehensive resources about growing quince trees. It can be viewed online here, and is also available in print from Amazon. Meech states that this variety originated from Connecticut, and was originally called the Pear-Shaped Orange Quince - but it soon became known as Meech's Prolific.

Meech's Prolific characteristics

British-grown trees

Unlike many garden centres and online retailers, the vast majority of our fruit trees are grown in the UK. Find out more.

In addition, all our trees are certified under the Plant Healthy scheme, supervised by the Plant Health Alliance. Other stakeholders include Defra and the RHS. The scheme aims to improve UK biosecurity by setting standards for all growers and retailers involved in selling plants in the UK. Find out more

Guaranteed fruit trees

When you buy your fruit tree from Orange Pippin Fruit Trees we guarantee it for the first season in your garden whilst it gets established. If it doesn't grow successfully, we'll either replace it the following season or offer a refund - subject to some conditions. Find out more.

More about quince trees

Quince trees produce are versatile pear-like fruits used for culinary purposes - use them in the same way you would apples or pears. They are particularly good for preserves, and a small amount of stewed quince also gives an interesting lift to many apple-based recipes. The blossom and fruits are very attractive.

The quince originates from south-west Asia, but has been widely grown throughout Europe since classical times, and were introduced to England from France in the 13th century or earlier. The English word "quince" derives from the French word "cognassier". Quinces were also established in the American colonies, and many of today's quince varieties are American.

Quince trees prefer warm climates, as found in central Europe, and much of the USA. They can be grown successfully in most of the milder areas of England, but to get the best yields it really helps to plant them in a sheltered spot in full sun with a south-facing aspect.

Quince trees are usually grown as open-centred bush-style trees, a form which best suits the attractively contorted way in which they tend to grow. They can also be trained as fans (not espaliers) against south-facing walls or fences, and this is a good technique for getting the best cropping and flavour in the UK. Quince trees are generally slow-growing but very long-lived - and the trees become more attractive as they age. The first fruits are borne after 3-5 years.

All our quince trees are grafted on Quince A (semi-vigorous) or Quince C (semi-dwarf) rootstocks. Quinces are clearly related to pears but they produce smaller and more spreading trees than pears, and for this reason pears are usually grafted on to quince rootstocks to produce trees of more manageable proportions.

Quince rootstocks do not tolerate heavy chalk soils.

Quince trees benefit from a general purpose plant food in late winter, and young trees in particular should have a good layer of mulch to suppress weeds and keep the roots moist - they like slightly damp conditions for their roots. If you can provide a sunny sheltered spot with moist soil you should be successful. Quinces are relatively easy to grow, as they are nearly all self-fertile or partially self-fertile, and need minimal pruning.

Quinces should stored in a cool place after picking (preferably with natural light, it does not need to be dark), to allow the fruit to mature and the fragrant flavour to develop - they can be used after a month or so. It is best to store them away from other fruits unless you want them also to pick up the fragrance of the quinces.