I did a double take at one of the more posh garden centers near here last week. This beautiful waxy looking blossom caught my eye. In a little side area there was a line of large plants, some already bearing fruit. I'm sure many of you will recognize this blossom immediately, for others, like me, you will stare at the fruit, then check the tag, and realize California and Florida are perhaps not the only states where citrus fruits can grow. Of course, an orangery, more about them HERE, would be a plus if one plans to venture into raising citrus fruits in a climate such as ours this past six months. Lacking the big bucks required to build a large temperature controlled glass house, I think my weekly mesh bag of lemons will continue to come from the grocery store, those boxes of Florida oranges we pick up at Costco will suffice……and I'll leave the raising to the citrus farmers, thank you very much.
I do think these are gorgeous blossoms and they smell divine.
Meyer lemons have an intense flavor and are hardier than regular lemons - would still
need to be brought inside during the winter months here in North Carolina though.
………and then there were these.
New to me - are you familiar? Calamondin, a small hybrid citrus fruit - go HERE
for more about this interesting tree.
for more about this interesting tree.
However, no matter how pretty, fragrant, tasty or interesting, no purchases of citrus fruit trees this Spring for our garden, just can't take on another thing. We have enough to contend with in the garden now. With long distance travel plans for early Summer, just when it starts to heat up big time here in the south, we cannot start another garden……orange, lemon and lime groves, no way!
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A few years back, I bought a lemon tree. It was outside in the summer and brought inside in the winter. After two years and several blooms later, we got one lemon. lol.
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Penny
I just moved my Meyer Lemon outside after a winter indoors. It immediately began budding all over so I have high hopes for a first lemon harvest this year. After reading Penny's comment, I may be disappointed. Ha!
ReplyDeleteAs for the calamondin, many years ago my aunt moved from Michigan to Florida. She was quite excited to have inherited some citrus trees with her new home. They turned out to be the calamondin which were very sour as I recall. Not quite what she had hoped for.
Hope you had a nice Easter, Mary. I'm behind in my blogging and making a renewed effort to get caught up. Happy Gardening.
Suzanne of Simply Suzannes at Home
ReplyDeleteDear Mary, It would be hard to pass on the Meyer lemon tree! It's a good thing that I wasn't shopping with you, I would've tried to persuade you to buy one ;0) There's something so special about Meyers! Such lovely photos of the blossoms!
I hope you had a wonderful weekend,
Suzanne
Those blossoms are so beautiful! Guess we'll be sticking to grocery store oranges and lemons too. Do you remember the little song - Oranges and lemons, peel the bells of St. Clemens? That's all I remember of it. :) Have a beautiful week.
ReplyDeleteMary, I am going to check out this new hybrid as soon as I finish here. Having fruit to pull right off the tree is lovely, but not with out some pampering, even here in our part of California.
ReplyDeleteThere is a citrus tree in our new garden. No tag, but suspect it is a lemon. It has blossoms & tiny fruit already. I guess I will eventually know which it is... :)
Have a great day!
Good Monday morning to you! Those blossoms look lovely. This old house that we are living in had a established pear and apple tree. I'm trying not to kill them off. We also have a well established blueberry bush. No citrus since we are in the PNW. I grew up in Southern California and the University I attended my first year was in Redlands, California. (close to Palm Springs) The campus was surrounded by orange groves and in the Spring so many young people fell in love intoxicated by those sweet smelling blossoms!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, Mary. I've considered adding a Meyer lemon tree to our garden. Perhaps I should see what is available here.
ReplyDeleteHappy gardening and traveling.
saw your comment over on French Essence about aging and thought I'd drop over to meet you. :) Lovely blog. And like you I don't think I will try growing a lemon tree in VA. Have enough to take care of. Happy Day to you....Lynn
ReplyDeleteWe grew a Meyer lemon tree in a pot for several years. Oh how I loved it, the lemons and blossoms are just amazing.
ReplyDeleteIt finally died and I was sad.
Travel? Where are you adventuring to? I can't wait for an adventure in travel in June.
Hope you had a delightful Easter. xoxo m
I don't think I shall be growing orange and lemon trees in the North of England either! They are really beautiful though. There were lemon trees covered in fruit in the garden at Oak Alley near New Orleans and they looked fabulous.
ReplyDeleteCatching up on posts here after being away. I'm not commenting on most, but wanted to let you know that we have a Meyer lemon tree growing in our back yard. In Canada. It stays outdoors all year round with the help of shelter and a string of old-fashioned Christmas tree lights wired to a thermostat. They come on when the temps dip to freezing. We wrap the tree (against a south-facing wall) in October and unwrap it in May or June. It's just two years old, but there are several dozen lemons on it now, waiting for harvest. I'm planning a lemon-themed party in a few weeks. It can be done with little effort once the initial set up is done.
ReplyDelete