Flowering Quince

Shall I tell this plant's story? Yeah, let's do it....

When my father passed away, someone gave this plant to my mother as a memorial. Evidently she was told it was an azalea. She planted it in her yard, where it didn't thrive.

A couple years later she offered it to me, apparently thinking I couldn't do worse by the plant. Expecting little, I planted it close to the house, just in front of the water spigot. At that location it has thrived, but the bush--it has thorns--makes it difficult to turn on and off the water.

One year I grabbed a few shoots and planted them elsewhere in the yard. That new bush is now maturing, and I'm seriously considering removing this bush and anointing the new one as a memorial to mom and dad.

We'll see how that works out.....

Somewhere along the way I learned that the bush isn't an azalea; it's a quince. For a time I was a little confused about it, and still sometimes we get it wrong in conversation.