Colours and scent Flowers: White Fruit: Brown Leaf: Green Stem: Variegated leaf: No Scent: No
Size and shape Height: 6.00m Height at 10yrs: 4.50m Spread: 7.00m Spread at 10yrs: 4.50m Shape: Dome
Evergreen, Seasons of interest... Blooms/foliage interest in: Spring, Summer, Autumn Evergreen: No, deciduous
Mespilus germanica Medlar
Plant Names... Botanical name: Mespilus germanica Common name: Medlar Also known as:
Plant Type... Plant botanical type: Tree
Use For... Architectural, Bee attraction, Bird attraction
Description... This distinctive, small tree has large, leathery leaves, single, star-shaped, white flowers and long spines mixed up with the foliage. The fruits are the famous medlars, eaten when they are bletted, which means over-ripe or half-rotten, depending on your point of view. If you wish to eat it you don't pick it until it has reached this over-ripe stage. You can bake it, skin and all, and make the resultant squidge into preserves, medlar cheese or jelly; otherwise, eat it, skinned, as a dessert. The medlar is sometimes found in woodlands in the southern counties of England and was perhaps introduced by the Romans.
Typically available as
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter
Seeds
(GA0)
(GA3)
(GA6)
(GA9)
Bulbs
(GA1)
(GA4)
(GA7)
(GA10)
Plants
(GA2)
(GA5)
(GA8)
(GA11)
Mespilus germanica
Planting your new plant
Water the plant thoroughly when you get it home, and plant out as soon as possible. Make the hole for the plant larger that the pot it is in and the same depth. When removing the plant from the pot, squeeze the sides of the pot to loosen it. Loosen the roots of the plant, put the plant in the hole spreading the roots to encourage them to grow outwards. Fill round the edges of the rootball with soil to the same level as the surrounding soil.
Care for your plant
Plants in containers need plant food to thrive when in growth. Seek advice from your retailer regarding best product(s). Follow the packet instructions when applying plant food. Remove fading flowers to encourage fresh ones.
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