Torvesa Flowering Quince

[fredtruck]

Of all the quinces I have, the Torvesa Flowering Quince is one of the easiest to care for, and one of the strongest growers. Though you can’t see it so well in the full body image, there are buds all over the tree, as can be seen here:


The buds are spectacular in themselves. In the full spring sun, the flowers are single, and subtle--white dappled pink, or pink.

 

[sorce]

I like that pot a lot!

Good image!

Sorce

 

[fredtruck]

I don't know very much about this pot. Years ago, I saw on another forum, one that was very similar. You know the saying that a bonsai pot is like the frame for a picture? This pot's decoration tells that story. There are four picture windows on it, but each picture is different. The top of the rim is painted just like the frames on the picture windows, saying in effect, this is the picture you made. I don't know of any other pot that tells this commonplace story so well.

 

[Giga]

sorry can't really see anything in the picture

 

[GrimLore]

The buds are spectacular in themselves. In the full spring sun, the flowers are single, and subtle--white dappled pink, or pink.

So you will be cutting those back two nodes after bloom to get new buds to set in the fall - when do they normally start to bud in the first place? I have one I acquired last Spring, leggy and blah. I gave it a pretty heavy cut back and it had grown good all year and is at present is full of lush green foliage. A few weeks ago a few flowers showed up on just one branch and I see no indication that it will produce more. Must I now let it all go another year or should I do a light trimming of the newer growth now in hopes of the new growth setting buds in the fall?

Once again, nice plant Fred and thank you for sharing!

Grimmy

 

[fredtruck]

So you will be cutting those back two nodes after bloom to get new buds to set in the fall - when do they normally start to bud in the first place? I have one I acquired last Spring, leggy and blah. I gave it a pretty heavy cut back and it had grown good all year and is at present is full of lush green foliage. A few weeks ago a few flowers showed up on just one branch and I see no indication that it will produce more. Must I now let it all go another year or should I do a light trimming of the newer growth now in hopes of the new growth setting buds in the fall?

Once again, nice plant Fred and thank you for sharing!

Grimmy

Mine had buds in December, and bloomed in January. That condition, of course, depends on your environment.

No matter how bad it looks, I would not trim new growth back, especially if you want flowers, because that's where the new flowers will be. The first flowers I had on my Torvesa were mainly on one branch. Then, later, they popped up all over the place. After you've had flowers, then cut the tree back, but don't remove all the new growth.

 

[GrimLore]

Mine had buds in December, and bloomed in January. That condition, of course, depends on your environment.

No matter how bad it looks, I would not trim new growth back, especially if you want flowers, because that's where the new flowers will be. The first flowers I had on my Torvesa were mainly on one branch. Then, later, they popped up all over the place. After you've had flowers, then cut the tree back, but don't remove all the new growth.

Thank you! Not only for the eye candy you present but for those tidbits of wisdom based on your obvious experience

Grimmy

 

[fredtruck]

This year, the Torvesa flowering quince has blossomed much earlier than it did last year. It also bloomed with no foliage, so we get a bare boned look with flower accents.


This isn't exactly the position I want for viewing this quince, but this angle allows you to see the flowers better.

 

[Velodog2]

This isn't exactly the position I want for viewing this quince, but this angle allows you to see the flowers better.

What front do you prefer? This seems very nice with the trunks and branches all moving well together. You take very nice photos. I love this one.

 

[fredtruck]

>>What front do you prefer?
I like this one, but rotated about 10 or 15 degrees to the left, so the corner is facing the viewer. There are a few other fronts that work, also, but they all have the trunks and branches in similar positions. Thanks for the kind words on photos.

 

[fredtruck]

The flowers continue coming. The description given by Forestfarms of Torvesa flowers says they are white dappled with pink. I have had this happen in the summertime, but now I am getting the "apple blossom" effect in the winter. First, the whole quince:


And now up close:

 

[fredtruck]

Same tree, but a different batch of flowers, and new foliage. After working with this quince for a couple of years, I think it's underused in the world of bonsai.

 

[Carol 83]

SO pretty, and such a unique pot.

 

[Hyn Patty]

This is lovely. Makes me want to break out my oil paints and work on a painting just looking at it.

 

[fredtruck]

The Torvesa continues to develop. No flowers this time of year, but foliage gives the quince a more full-bodied aspect.

 

[fredtruck]

Without leaves, the bare bones of the Torvesa Flowering Quince are intriguing. Angular and stark, decorated here and there with big fat flower buds developing, this tree is the only tree I know that seems to depend on branches and shoots growing together, joining to make its framework stronger. At first I saw a few shoots growing together, and I separated them, as traditional practice demands. However, there are so many doing this now trying to separate them is a waste of time, and probably counterproductive.

 

[fredtruck]

Last summer, my Torvesa suffered a major wind accident. The tree was blown off its place on the bench, and the pot was destroyed. I'd wanted to change the pot for a long time, and the accident provided the motivation. The pot the tree is in now is not a bonsai pot. It's a Chinese flowerpot. It has no legs so it requires a stand with a hole in it for drainage.

 

[0soyoung]

Glad the tree is okay, Fred. Nice, nice, flowers.
That pot is just a touch too busy, but as temporary lodgings go ...

 

[fredtruck]

Glad the tree is okay, Fred. Nice, nice, flowers.
That pot is just a touch too busy, but as temporary lodgings go ...

Torvesa 1-10-22 v2


The Torvesa flowering quince has very coarse branching. In fact, the branches are called canes. There is some subdivision of these canes into “secondary canes,” but nothing I would term ramified branches. My approach to making a bonsai out of material like this is to just let the tree grow. Then, at the end of the season, or before, if an opportunity presents itself, I wire the canes back towards the middle of the tree. Most of the time I cut the cane back a bit to avoid collisions with other nearby canes.

The canes themselves are frightfully brittle. They will break if you look at them really hard. I’ve broken my share in just that manner. Also, the canes are armed with hooked thorns that overall, can reach close to an inch long. I ran one through my thumb in an emergency because a big storm was approaching. The wound was not serious, just inconvenient which is when most accidents like this happen.

You will notice a single flower in the lower right area of the Torvesa. It seems as though single flowers predominate in the early part of the season, but the standard form for Torvesa flowers is clusters of them. The Torvesa in full bloom is inspiring!

I have found very little information on this tree. I think it is the speciosa form rather than the Japonica. I am basing this conjecture on the size and shape of its leaves. Brent Walston has suggested that the contorted white flowering quince is its own form. I believe the Torvesa is related to the contorted form of flowering quince, and so is part of that line.

This picture is an optimized anaglyph. Use red/cyan glasses to see the 3D.

Here are my own experiences with the optimized anaglyph: It is important that the image resolve itself. You can tell the picture is not resolving if there are red ghosts everywhere. To make the picture resolve, move back. The full 3D will happen then.

There are some optimized anaglyphs that don’t require red/cyan glasses. However, you will have to move back for the image to be resolved. Since everyone’s eyes are different, it is difficult to predict which optimized anaglyphs will work this way for you. You will have to try it for yourself. Go ahead and give it a shot.