Citrus

28 days of rain since March 1. 7 weeks straight where the high temperature was below average. Finicky bees balking at the cold and wet, sitting home and refusing to pollinate. Commercial growers and home orchardists are facing low to zero crop production on peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots. Peach leaf curl is at 100% infection rate on the leaves of peaches and nectarines. Brown rot has blighted the blossoms of many stone fruit trees, and is spreading down the branches.

Gardeners are getting grumpy. Weeds are waist (shoulder?) high, and the grass has gone unmown for several weeks. May is now ' Declare Your Lawn a Meadow ' month. Long faces at garden centers, hardware stores. Landscapers, gardeners, and contractors have been stymied.

I walk through my family orchard, looking glumly at my dozens of stone fruit trees with their miserably distorted leaves and blighted flowers. All our winter pruning efforts for naught this year. On the way back to the house I pass my 12' tall kumquat, branches laden with shiny fruit, and I can almost hear the tree asking, So, what's all the fuss about? What about me, huh? I planted it primarily as an ornamental, but there are hundreds of fruit, the blossoms are just peeking out, and I do absolutely nothing special in the way of maintenance.

The fragrant flowers of Citrus come in April, usually missing the rain. Few pest problems, fruit that hangs on the tree for weeks, and attractive foliage make citrus especially useful for the home gardener. Most grow tall enough to provide privacy, slowly enough that they don't need pruning, and their fruit ripens in the gloomy winter months.

First the basics. Citrus likes a warm, sunny location. Frost protection may be necessary on young trees. A couple of varieties (Mexican lime, Etrog citron) are tender and will need protection even when they are older. A south or east facing wall will be ideal. They benefit from a regular fertilizing schedule (3 – 4 x/year minimum), including some trace elements. And most people water their citrus too often: deep, infrequent soakings are best. Containers work well, and a large pot can hold a dwarf citrus for years.

The best time to plant Citrus trees is when it is warm and the soil is workable, The young trees sulk if their roots can't grow and spread quickly. So wait until the soil isn't soggy, and the nights are warmer than 50F. Anytime from April through October is fine. Note: the cold and gloom have slowed growth of the young trees, and demand always exceeds supply early in the season. Be patient, and don't worry: the young trees can be planted just fine during the summer months.

Everybody knows the navel oranges, lemons, limes, and grapefruits. Meyer lemon (actually a sour orange), Eureka or Lisbon lemon (your ' Sunkist ' type), and Navel oranges are the best-selling varieties. Valencia oranges can extend your harves season into the early summer; blood oranges have unique rich red flesh and juice, and mandarins are holiday favorites.

But what about the other citrus?

There are dozens of citrus varieties, including some real oddballs, and virtually all of them can be grown here. So this is in praise of some of the ' lesser ' citrus.

Robert Fortune(1812 – 1880) is one of my life heroes. A gruff Scotsman, he was appointed as an official plant collector in China by the London Horticultural Society. He shaved his head and learned Mandarin, passing in disguise through the previously closed country and sending thousands of plants back to England over the course of four extended explorations. If you see the species name ' fortunei ' it is one of the 120 or so important garden plants he discovered: Euonymus fortunei, Trachycarpus fortunei, and so on.

In one case the genus itself was named after him. Most citrus are in the genus Citrus (easy to remember, eh?). But kumquats are cousins, in the genus Fortunella. They are the hardiest, and arguably the most ornamental, citrus. Kumquat fruit hangs on the tree year-around, so last year's fruit is still available as this year's is ripening.

The skin is sweet and the pulp is lemon-tart. So the way to experience a kumquat is to pop it in your mouth whole and chew it all up rapidly. The sweet/tart combination is unbeatable. It makes an outstanding marmalade if you have the patience to seed the tiny fruit.

Mandarins and hybrids

The ' Owari Satsuma ' mandarin is the very popular sweet, seedless, easy-to-peel holiday fruit. Satsumas are slow-growing enough to be kept as a shrub, and among the most cold-hardy citrus. Hybridization of a mandarin with a grapefruit yielded the ' Minneola ' Tangelo. The glowing orange fruit with the distinctive bump on the stem end ripens in late winter into early spring, hanging on the tree for two months or more until you're ready to enjoy it. Always a family favorite. Attractive foliage on a compact tree—this one is ornamental enough to fill a focal point in the garden.

Early breeding programs aimed to get varieties with greater cold tolerance. The Mexican (Key) lime is tender here, but a cross with the kumquat led to the Eustis limequat, a heavy-producing hardy lime-like fruit with edible rind. A cross between the kumquat and the mandarin led to the Indio Mandarinquat. Looks like a giant kumquat, with similar tangy-sweet flesh and edible rind. A very decorative tree. Note: Bearss is a true lime variety that is hardy here.

Grapefruits and hybrids

Pummelos are braggers' trees. The fruit is nearly twice the size of a grapefruit – but after you get done removing the inch-thick peel what remains is about the same size. You then peel the thin membrane off of each section, yielding a sweet, juicy fruit that is excellent for salads or eating fresh. Pummeloes don't have the bitterness that is common in grapefruits, which are thought to be a naturally occurring hybrid between a pummelo and an orange. In fact, hybridizing back between grapefruits and pummeloes has led to one of the most successful ' grapefruits ' for California gardeners, the Oroblanco. Sweet, non-bitter fruit make this the best choice in our area.

Just plain odd

The ' Pink Lemonade ' lemon is a new variety with variegated foliage (great in flower arrangements) and striped pink-fleshed fruit. A wonderful garden ornamental, but a shy producer. Buddha's Hand citron is a fingered fruit that is all rind and no pulp. The fruit is very fragrant and often used in holiday decorations. The Etrog citron looks like a giant warty lemon; it is the peel that is candied for fruit cake, and is used in the Jewish Feast of the Tabernacles. Citron are frost tender, so best kept in a container and moved up against the house during winter months.

Grown for the foliage: leaves of the Kieffer lime are cut into fine slivers and added to Thai and Cambodian recipes. If you see ' citrus leaves ' in a Thai recipe, this is what it means. The fruit is a strange, warty green thing, but the peel imparts a special flavor to curries.

Learn a little about frost protection, take some care at planting time, water deeply and set up a simple feeding schedule. Citrus can be a stress-free part of your family orchard, or an attractive addition to the landscape.

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