The Owari Satsuma mandarine is the only citrus dependable to bear fruit and not suffer from frost. We had your orange and the valencia and a marsh white grapefruit all of which have been removed for non bearing or being non edible. The satsuma ripens in December and can be left on the tree, picked as needed,for at least a month before spoiling. Al

I live an Marin and grow a bunch of citrus. My idea is to primarily grow varieties that you can't find in stores. I would recommend a blood orange. Moro is the variety which most consistently ripens in this region. I have been growing Kishu mandarins for a couple of years and they are absolutely delicious. They have a flavor very similar to Clementine mandarins, are seedless, easy to peel and bite-sized. If you wanted a manadrin that ripens later in the season, consider a Gold Nugget which doesn't need a lot of heat to ripen.

Thanks, Al. I am definitely getting an Owari Satsuma after reading your recommendations.

brettay, thanks for the recommendations - Kishu is new to me and I already have Algerian Clementine which I love, so I might get that too. Could you please share what other varieties of citrus you are successful with in marin? It is definitely warmer than Marin in the south bay, so maybe I can emulate your success by copying your list of citrus, if you don't mind?

I'm in LA, but Kishu was my #1 choice after extensive internet sleuthing. I also planted a Gold Nugget to expand my harvest time.

Here's a list of varieties that is somewhat helpful:

Here is a link that might be useful: Mandarin and Tangerine varieties

While it's a bit outside your parameters, the Rangpur lime or lemanderin grows fine in your area also. Too sour for straight juicing, but it sure gives an interesting flavor when cooking or in mixed drinks and the rinds makes excellent marmalade. But they do have tons of seeds.

I have to throw in my vote for Cara cara. It really holds on to fruits very well, mine ripen in April, but I harvest them as late as September, and then, they are like honey infused oranges, sooooo sweet, like ambrosia.

But if you already have a navel, then I would recommend a non-navel orange, someone above mentionned trovita, it's a good flavored orange for me, but there is also shamouti, the Israeli orange, which is much more exotic, slightly spicy and sweet. Blood oranges are good too, but more sour.

There are also acideless oranges that are delicious if you're into that sort of thing. I like them a lot, but many people are so used to acidity in oranges that they don't like the acidless citrus varieties. Vaniglia is an acideless blood orange worth growing.

On the mandarin front, I recommend the fremont tangerine, it's delicious, and unusually flavored.

Thanks a lot, axel, dicot and brettay. You have shared your wealth of citrus knowledge with me and I am off to do more research on this list.

Here in north Orange County my Kishu has yet to produce a single fruit. Midknight was a disappointment too compared to just a plain old Washington Navel orange.

Californian, I am sorry to hear that. My Kishu is in a pot and about 3.5 feet tall. This is the first year it has produced a lot of fruit, but I have at least 40-50 fruits ripening. Last year I only had around 5, but they were absolutely delicious.

axel, I have been reading about the Vaniglia. I am interested in finding out more about the acidless oranges and mandarins that are out there - a relative of mine has Acid Reflux issues, but can tolerate moderate amounts of low acid citrus fruits - which he loves. So, i want to buy a few of the acidless varieties (or low acid varieties) for him. Your help is most appreciated.

I feel it is best to grow citrus that are not readily available in stores.

But the homegrown are so much better, common or not. Our Valencias were superb, better than any we've bought at the store. Also a lot cheaper. ;)

We live in Walnut Creek and grow a ton of citrus. All of them are prolific. We have 3 owari satsumas, 2 meyer lemons, one Washington navel, one Moro blood orange, one Chandler pummelo, one Bearss lime, and one Valencia orange. These all stagger pretty well in season, with meyers year round, satsuma mandarins earliest in winter, then pummelos and navels, blood oranges in late winter, and valencias in summer. The blood oranges are actually not so sour if you just leave them on the tree a bit longer. They become very aromatic and fruity. Valencias were better than navels this year -- incredibly sweet and juicy.

Kishu is awesome, Moro is an excellent producer also. I have Owari Satsumas, Dancy, Honey. Grasshoppers have eaten the poor little Washington Navel and I have had issues with my Tangelo, but my Red Rio Grapefruits are very happy.