Flowers are growing on the inner branches only

Question

Some flowers appeared on the inner branches of a tree. What type of tree/flower is it? Should I trim on the outside? What else do I need to do to promote its growth? Will the flowers also grow on the outside?

Answer 1

This is one of the Chaenomeles, maybe C. japonica or a cultivar of it. Flowering usually begins on bare wood, with the leaves arriving very soon afterwards. It should be pruned after flowering is finished, when you prune back the flowered stems, and take off any dead stems or prune back to size and shape generally. If you cut it later on in the year, you will likely be removing wood that would have flowered the following spring - yours looks like this is what's happened; the reason the flowers are on the inside is simply because that's the only wood left that was going to flower this year. Check the plant for dead wood and remove it if there is any after flowering - you may have some of that still in with living growth, which would make the plant look congested.

If you want to use the quince like fruits it produces, you will have to leave the flowered stems alone to allow the fruits to form.