Medlars (Mespilus germanica) Medlar trees with their sweet, soft and delicious apple-like fruit are very rare and quite unique. Their history goes back to medieval times in England and Europe. In the Middle Ages most walled monastery gardens included a number of these craggy but elegant trees. They can be extremely long-lived. A certain medlar tree in England, planted during the reign of King James I in the early 1600s was reportedly still alive and well quite recently! A medlar in bloom will rival a rose bush in dignified beauty with its large white blossoms nestled in a whorl of dark green leaves. 1-1.5m (3-5') bareroot tree

Medlar : BREDA GIANT Dwarf (Quince A) (Orchard Grade)

$49.95

In stock

An 'orchard grade' is a tree that may be somewhat shorter, slightly crooked, or a bit scratched, or for some other reason is not a perfect front lawn specimen. These trees will work just as well in an orchard as a first or number one would, since they still produce the very same fruit.

Medium sized fruit with a spicy applesauce flavour and texture. This picturesque variety has somewhat droopy branches. A slower grower, it can eventually reach 4.5-6 meters (15-20'). It is originally from Holland.

SELF-FERTILE | ZONE 5 | HARVEST: MID OCT.

Rootstock
Pollenizer
Zone
Harvest
Rootstocks
G41 Dwarf
(2.5-3.1m/8-10ft)
G935 Small Semi-Dwarf
(3.25-4m/10-13ft)
G969 Small Semi-Dwarf
(3.25-4m/10-14ft)
G30 Semi-Dwarf
(3.6-5m/12-16ft)
G890 Semi-Dwarf
(3.6-5m/13-16ft)
Pollenator definitions
Some trees and many berry plants are SELF-FERTILE ̶means the insect pollinators or even the wind can pollinate the blossoms without the need of a second tree.
NEEDS A POLLENIZER ̶ means another tree of the same type or kind but a different variety must be blooming nearby at the same time.
EXAMPLE A Liberty apple and a Wealthy apple can cross-pollinate. Two trees of the same variety ie: ̶ 2 Wealthy apples, cannot cross pollinate because they are genetically identical.
Other trees are marked as SEMI-FERTILE. These will set fruit without a second tree. However they will often bear more, and sometimes larger fruit if another variety of the same kind of tree is nearby.
You can select 2 different trees of the same kind marked as NEEDS A POLLENIZER or plant one of those along with one SELF-FERTILE or one SEMI-FERTILE. Also consider ripening times ̶ a Goldrush apple might not start blooming before a Pristine is finished.

Other products in this zone

Growing Tips

Medlars Growing Tip

Medlars prefer a somewhat sheltered, well drained site with lots of sunshine. Medlars also have a few unique requirements:

  1. They should be planted with the graft union several inches
    below the soil level to allow the scion to form its own roots.
  2. The fruit is still rock-hard and mouth puckering when picked
    late in the fall. They need 2 to 4 weeks to soften up (a process
    called bletting) before they are ready to eat, bake or roast, or
    make jellies and jams.

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