Chaenomeles speciosa arrived in Western gardens from China in the late 18th century and has been earning its place ever since, particularly in the American South where it blooms in March like a small fire along the fence line. Growing 6 to 12 feet tall with the tangled, thorny architecture of a shrub that means business, it earns its keep through sheer endurance: drought, shade, poor soils, and deer pressure all leave it largely unbothered. Acid soil suits it; alkaline soil does not, and this is worth knowing before planting.

The flowers are classically scarlet and five-petaled, opening on bare wood before the leaves emerge, making them all the more striking against the winter-grey garden. What follows is a small, hard, astringent fruit that ripens yellow-green in autumn. Few people eat them fresh, but boiled down with sugar they make a firm, fragrant jelly with a flavor entirely their own. Prune lightly after flowering to shape; prune hard if fruit is not a priority. As an informal hedge or specimen in a hot, dry spot, it has few rivals among flowering shrubs for that raw, early-season impact.