Planting guide

When to plant quince

Tough, ornamental tree with golden perfumed fruit that cooks to a ruby jelly. In Melbourne it goes in Jun–Aug.

Start as: Potted plant or Bare-root plant
Ready in: 4+ years to the first crop
Spacing: 400 cm
Depth: 0 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Easy
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means quince can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Melbourne	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Brisbane	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Perth	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Adelaide	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Gold Coast	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Newcastle	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Sunshine Coast	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Canberra	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Central Coast	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Geelong	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Wollongong	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Hobart	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Townsville	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Cairns	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Darwin	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Mandurah	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Bendigo	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Launceston	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Mackay	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Rockhampton	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Coffs Harbour	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Blue Mountains	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Bunbury	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Bundaberg	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Alice Springs	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Mildura	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Port Macquarie	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Wellington	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Christchurch	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
London	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Manchester	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Edinburgh	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
New York City	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Chicago	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Austin	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Toronto	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Johannesburg	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Singapore	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Mumbai	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Paris	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Berlin	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant quince

Plant bare-root in winter in sun.
Mulch and water young trees.
Prune lightly in winter.
Pick when golden and fragrant, before heavy frost.

Quince varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Smyrna Classicheirloom · 24–31 wksLarge fruit with golden-yellow skin
Champion Classicheavy-cropper · 24–31 wksHeavy cropper, pear-shaped
Pineapple Adventuroussweet · 24–31 wksSweet, fragrant
Meech's Prolific Adventurousheavy-cropper · 24–31 wksHeavy bearing and tasty

Where to buy seedlings

Search on QP Seedlings Search on Amazon

Shop links may earn us a commission. It never changes what we recommend.

Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Garlic, Chive, Comfrey

Quince by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Lemon · Lime · Apple · Fig · Avocado · Banana

Not sure quince is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now