The Jet Trail Flowering Quince, otherwise known as the Chaenomeles X Superba ‘Jet Trail’ or Hinoki Cypress ‘Fernspray Gold’, ‘Fernspray Gold’ Hinoki Cypress, Chamaecyparis ‘Fernspray Gold’, is a rather well known shrub plant by gardening enthusiasts around the world.
Best known for its low maintenance and moderate growth, this shrub will likely liven up your house (or garden) with its green colored leaves. But, only if you learn how to take proper care of it for it to thrive.
Fortunately, this is exactly what we’ll cover in this Jet Trail Flowering Quince Care Guide. So let’s dive in.
The fundamental caring guidelines for every Jet Trail Flowering Quince can be summed up into the following:
- Water: The Jet Trail Flowering Quince needs evenly spread moist soil – try to avoid letting the soil dry out.
- Light: Keep your Chaenomeles X Superba ‘Jet Trail’ in an environment where it can receive partial to full sun on a daily basis.
- Soil: Make sure to keep the Jet Trail Flowering Quince in soil with moist but well-draining properties, so ideally, one that is made of clay, loam, chalk, and sand.
That’s it – sunlight, water and soil! The basic 3 fundamentals for all plant care, and with the Jet Trail Flowering Quince this is no exception. With these three elements, your leafy friend will live healthy and happy.
Scientific / Botanical Aspects
In botanical terms, the Jet Trail Flowering Quince belongs to the Cupressaceae family, the genus Chamaecyparis and the species Obtusa, hence its scientific (or botanical) name Chaenomeles X Superba ‘Jet Trail’.
Other popular Cupressaceae plants include species like Juniperus Sabina ‘Monard’, Taxodium distichum var. imbricarium, Savin Juniper, or Decumbent Juniper ‘Nana’, Northern White Cedar ‘Danica’, Cupressus Sempervirens, Juniperus Chinensis ‘Hetzii Glauca’, Blue Chip Juniper, Juniperus Horizontalis ‘Wiltonii’, Japanese Cypress ‘Golden Mop’, Blue Star Juniper, Japanese Cypress ‘Curly Tops’, British Columbia Cedar ‘Fluffy’, Chamaecyparis Pisifera Filifera ‘Golden Charm’, Chamaecyparis ‘Nana Gracilis’ and Grey Owl Juniper.
As with other Chamaecyparis’s, the Jet Trail Flowering Quince is a deciduous plant, which means it will shed its leaves annually once autumn comes.
Growing Region
The Jet Trail Flowering Quince is a plant native to the Asia.
As a rule of thumb, we recommend to always keep in mind your plants’ native region and environment, since these are the conditions that your Jet Trail Flowering Quince is most accustomed to, thus where it can most favorably.
With this in mind, the Chaenomeles X Superba ‘Jet Trail’ will be most used to the heat zones in the 1 – 8 region, as the plant hardiness level falls between 4a, 4b, 5b, 5a, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8b, 8a and the ideal climate zone is between 2, 2B, 3, 3A, 3B, 4, 5, 6, 15, 16, 17, A3.
Growth and Size
Growth
In terms of size and growth, the Jet Trail Flowering Quince is a relatively moderate grower, which makes things somewhat easy for any plant enthusiast.
Size
But, what size of Jet Trail Flowering Quince are we talking about? What can you expect in terms of height, spread and spacing? Let’s dig in…
The Chaenomeles X Superba ‘Jet Trail’ can grow up to 5′ – 6′ (150cm – 180cm) in 5′ – 6′ (150cm – 180cm) and 2′ – 3′ (60cm – 90cm) in 2′ – 3′ (60cm – 90cm).
These dimensions make the Jet Trail Flowering Quince a relatively large shrub compared to others, so it’s best to keep this fact in mind since it will affect where you want to keep yours at home.
Also, expect it to grow in a wonderful compact, and spreading shape, which is something worthwhile to remember when making your garden landscape plans.
This is why experts recommend keeping an area of approximately 48″ (120cm) free so the Jet Trail Flowering Quince can spread to its best extent.
Water
In terms of watering, the Jet Trail Flowering Quince is a fairly complicated plant to take care of.
This is mostly because it has a not so straightforward watering schedule and somewhat irregular watering needs.
Specifically, most experts agree that the Chaenomeles X Superba ‘Jet Trail’ needs evenly spread moist soil – try to avoid letting the soil dry out.
Which is why it is considered a plant with relatively average needs in terms of water.
Watering
As a rule of thumb, you should remember to keep your Jet Trail Flowering Quince in soil with moist but well-draining characteristics, as these will guarantee the right conditions for your plant to grow and thrive.
When you consider this, this is why you should aim to choose soil that has good drainage, and moist properties to keep the right moisture levels at all times.
But, if you want a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution to watering your Jet Trail Flowering Quince then you should consider the famous ‘finger’ test. To perform this test, you just need to put your finger in your plant’s soil and determine if it’s moist or not. If it is, then don’t water; if it isn’t, then please do. In any case, this test will allow you to know if your Jet Trail Flowering Quince needs or does not need water, every time.
Soil Mix
As mentioned earlier, the Jet Trail Flowering Quince prefers to have soil with good drainage, and moist properties at all times, reason why you need to make the soil mix out of clay, loam, chalk, and sand.
This is why most experts agree that the Jet Trail Flowering Quince requires soil with clay, high organic matter, loam (silt), and sand, which will give you the right conditions it needs.
In addition to this, expert gardeners recommend having preferably neutral to acid soil.
Light and Exposure
In terms of light & exposure, the Jet Trail Flowering Quince requires partial to full sun in order for it to thrive under the right conditions.
Most experts agree that this shrub will do well as long as you keep it in partial to full sun, and it will be able to grow properly.
Specifically, we recommend that you place your Chaenomeles X Superba ‘Jet Trail’ in little to partial shade (only 2-6 hours of direct sunlight a day), to full and direct sun (more 6 hours of direct sunlight per day).
Season
Being a deciduous plant, the Jet Trail Flowering Quince will shed its leaves annually once autumn comes.
But, you can expect it to have its ‘prime-time’ during the spring (early, mid, late), the summer (early, mid, late), the fall, and during the winter.
Flowers
You can expect your Jet Trail Flowering Quince to flower around the spring months from April to June (spring).
In particular, this shrub is well known for its long bloom season, flowers for cutting and showy flowers around the plant enthusiast community.
The Jet Trail Flowering Quince produces some beautiful white, or insignificant, brown/copper and orange flowers around this time of year.
Foliage
The leaves from the Jet Trail Flowering Quince have a beautiful green color during most of the year.
In particular, they have a compound (pinnately, bipinnately, palmately) and needles arrangement in its leaves.
Garden
Now, let’s talk garden and how your Jet Trail Flowering Quince will look best in it.
Other owners consider that they complement well most gardens of informal and cottage, city and courtyard, gravel and rock garden, and in traditional garden styles.
In particular, the Jet Trail Flowering Quince’s best location within your garden is in beds and borders, and in small gardens, others use it for landscaping in a cutting garden,
Conclusion
So that’s it! These are the main plant care requirements that you need to keep in mind in order to have a healthy Jet Trail Flowering Quince in your garden or home.
