esrosedotblog

CITRUS TREAT

We joke that Palm Spring has no seasons. Just different variations of temperature.

But if you look closely at plants, many of them behave in a seasonal way. Just not all at the same time.

Citrus trees abide by the traditional spring bloom, summer fruit set and autumn through winter fruit harvest.

It is raining some today. I went out back and walked by the small grove that we have. One tangerine tree, a grapefruit tree and, in huge pots, a lemon and a "mexican" lime. Back east we called them "key limes". Funny.

I realized that we have abundant blossom buds on all four trees. It seems that they appeared over night!

The tangerine is an every other year harvest. This is the year for fruit. We will have a lot. The last harvest broke a couple of tree limbs.

The lemon and grapefruit are ready to go with average buds. The grapefruit is dying but very slowly. It is still bearing smaller fruit. We will keep it going as long as we can. It is an old, old tree. There would be no easy replacing it for beauty, shade or fruit.

The surprise is the small lime which has not done all that well since it was planted. It has had two seasons of just a few fruits. This year, the blossoms are extraordinary. The thickest. The most.

We love these limes. We first ran into them when we went to the Virgin Islands and, of course, Key West. They are small and have a bite. One lime serves two glasses of carbonated water very nicely. Nothing like it on a hot day.

One more thing. There are two harvests with citrus. The first one is the wonderful aroma that saturates the neighborhood when these buds break open. A week away? I hope.

So, I am a happy farmer. A good beginning to a bounty year. If the weather holds.

Labels: citrus, garden, horticulture

ODORAMA

The hot weather has gotten us quickly into citrus blossom time.

The air is redolent.

It brings back old memories--a mock orange bush in the back yard of the first house I lived in.

I used to stick my little head into the bush and 'dream' of being someplace where the real oranges grow.

Well, a boyhood dream is realized.

I have to say that, while it is wonderful, there are two downsides. The first is that the air is also filled with pollen. Sniff.

The second is that the air is also filled with bees! A dangerous time.

Every gift horse has its mouth.

Labels: citrus, flowers, nature