Sure it does exist. Walter Andersen Nursery in Poway has carried it, that' where I purchased mine. And, so does Four Winds (online). Tarocco is not a "cold weather" citrus. There are certain cultivars that will withstand lower temps (Gold Nugget, most Satsumas, a few others), but this is not why you don't see it here. That's an odd comment. And, trying to find a true "dwarf" citrus tree is almost impossible. That would be on 'Fly Dragon' rootstock, and very few growers graft to it due to eventual incompatibility issues. Four Winds uses Cuban Shaddock for the most part, to keep their sweet citrus cultivars more compact. I am assuming their Tarocco Blood Oranges are grafted to Cuban Shaddock, but you can ask them to make sure. My Tarocco is on Carrizo I believe (from Walter Andersen). And your nurseryman is correct, you can keep your citrus pruned to 5' on semi-dwarfing rootstock. C35 would be your best option.

Patty S.

Patty,

Fourwinds doesn't ship to Southern California any more. I tried ordering from them.

I looked up the Morro, Torrocco and Midnight Valencia, and I just assumed Torroco isn't sold here in Riverside county because my online research said it's for cold weather. Anyway, we are happy with the 2 types we ordered.

Breathing a sigh of relief that the nursery dude was right. He is a wholesale to the public guy, and is picking out very beautiful and healthy trees (he promised) for me and bringing them in tomorrow afternoon. We'll pick them up on Friday. His prices are really good too!

I'm happy to have found him. They have acres of trees and shrubs there, but mostly for landscapers. They have to get the citrus for customers from their suppliers.

We'll be buying Peter Pan Agapanthus in 1 gallon from him too!

Suzi

If you have a costco, they might get that Torocco in, that is where I got mine.

Oh dear. Four Winds is in the new quarantine area, then. Gosh, that's so sad. It will also most likely mean that the supplier for Walter Anderson cannot send their citrus down to S. California, either. No, has nothing to do with cold weather. Tarocco isn't a "cold weather" citrus cultivar. And do try Costco, Suzi. Costco's in your area get their trees still from Willits & Newcomb, and they do propagate Tarocco. You'll be very happy with both Moro and Smith Red Valencia, though. They are both very darkly pigmented oranges, and the Moro has a very unique flavor.

Patty S.

Thanks to both of you! Costco is like a box of chocolates! You never know what you are going to get! :-))

When I read about the Midnight Valencia and the Moro, I just really wanted them equally as much as the elusive Tarocco. I can't wait till they have fruit and ripen. Fingers crossed they haven't blossomed yet. We have plenty of bees for pollinating!

For now, this planting season, the 4 we are getting will be enough, and 2 oranges that have never bloomed are full of blossoms now. We "think" they are oranges, but they could be other varieties. There are two unknown lemons, both in blossom as well. There is a heavily bearing Bearss Lime. There are 3 true dwarfs, no more than 2' high. One is a grapefruit and one a Mandarin. The other is a mystery. We brought 1 Standard Valencia and 1 Standard Ruby Red Grapefruit with us.

You can only consume so much citrus! My freezer is full of lime juice and whole lemons.

That quarantine is nasty! I glanced down at a dwarf citrus at one of the nurseries and saw it's quarantine tag. It can't leave Riverside county. I know the purpose for it, but it's going to limit a lot of citrus lovers from purchasing. I'm thinking there will be quite a few seedlings germinated by frustrated citrus lovers in the future!!

Suzi

The Dwarf vs. Standard discussion is a huge oversimplification of the reality with dozens of different rootstocks available. It seems the word Dwarf was gradually changed to Semi-Dwarf when people came back and said their tree became too big.

One of my partners planted a Dwarf Moro about 25 years ago and is now finding that it is 12' tall even with some trimming. This is a lot bigger than the original tag said it would become. Today, that same nursery would label that tree as a Semi-Dwarf. It is only 25% smaller than another friend's grove of Washington Navels and Valencias planted from commercial grower trees about the same time. These were whatever Maddock Ranch Nursery was supplying to commercial groves at the time. Those probably are on smaller rootstock than the commercial grove trees in my back yard planted 50-70 years ago.

I have Semi-Dwarf and Standards from different nurseries that are both on C-35 root stock. It seems the only difference you can usually count on is that a Standard will be trimmed with a 20-24" trunk and a Semi-Dwarf will be trimmed as a bush, designed to be kept low.

I've bought a couple trimmed as Standards and then let some additional branches grow from the trunk to fit my eventual size requirements.

I would think getting the right rootstock for your growing conditions will be far more important than any other considerations. I'm sure Patty can give you lots more info on that subject.