The Quince Brothers always dance to the beat of their own drum. They do not obey the rules in the same way as other trees might. They know they are deciduous, they know they will drop their leaves, but not yet.
"oh there's still plenty of time for that malarky," they declare to anyone in the garden who may wish to hear it; "there are weeks, nay months of Winter ahead of us so we will keep our leaves on for as long as we can." Fair play to them I say, they know their own minds. Sadly this year there are no quinces plumping up to report on; but I will gloss over this; maybe next year I whisper to them, maybe next year you will do the quince-thing again.
The leaves are wonderfully deep in colour still and whilst there is the odd manky looking leaf about to fall, this is the exception and not the rule.
I think the Quince Brothers are in all meanings, very attached to their leaves. They are one of the last trees in the garden to let them fall and one of the first to leaf up again. By February I will be looking for the first glimpses of green that show they are thinking of getting going again.
Close by the Quince Brothers is the Medlar Nottingham; probably a better tree for me to follow in many ways as it always blossoms and always fruits. Personally I think it is just trying to show the Quince Brothers up in a very passive aggressive way. I found myself staring into the world that is this Medlar, looking at the webs and life that is in there. Then I remembered they are called 'cat's arse' fruit and had to look away quickly. Not something you want to think about peering into!
So my dear Quince Brothers, maybe try and take some inspiration from the bountiful fruiting Medlar; I think it is trying to tell you something.
More followed trees can be found here on the delightful Squirrelbasket blog.
Take care and be kind.
