This isn't a DIRECT answer to your question but it may help. Back in the 1960s, 70s and 80s my great aunt lived in Palmetto, FL on the south end of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. She had what she called a "Fruit Cocktail" tree. It had several different citrus varieties grafted on one tree. She loved it. There were tangerines, and two varieties of oranges and I think lemon and/or lime. I'm sure if you shop around you can find a couple of similarly grafted trees with a variety of fruit. That would give you a variety and resolve your space problem.

1. Ponderosa lemon
2. Meyer Lemon
3. Variegated Pink Lemonade/lemon
4. Kumquat
5. Variegated Calamondin

Only 5? LOL
I'm actually new to citrus, so I haven't had these long. But here's how I made my decisions:

1) Owari Satsuma, my favorite for eating. (I have 2 of these growing in pots.)
2) Meyer lemons, they're a pretty potted plant and I like the taste of them. And they keep blooming all year.
3) Moro Blood Orange... I don't know what this variety tastes like yet but their blossoms smelled distinctly peppery and spicy. And I wanted to try an orange that reminded me of Italy.
4) Washington Navel... I am not sure how many I'll get from a dwarf potted plant but their blossoms were absolutely heavenly and that was enough for me.
5) Gold nugget... I bought this one because I wanted to fill in my other selection with a variety that would fruit at a different time than the others, and this one was highly recommended here for its flavor.

I'm not ready to try limes because I've heard they are pickier with the weather. And I want to eventually get a variegated lemon because they are pretty plants, but I'm outta room. LOL

Persian lime
Navel orange
Lee tangerine
Marsh white grapefruit
Myers lemon

This is a difficult question . I live in Central Florida and have 24 different trees . They are all my favorites so choosing 5 was hard ! Where are you in Florida ?

Thanks for the responses, guys. I live in South Florida (Broward County) and have been wanting to grow citrus for a long time, but they just started selling them here again, probably last summer, due to the canker thing. Yes, 5 is hard. I have not bought anything yet because I am just paralyzed with indecision, and I can see how I could become obsessed. There are just so many interesting things to choose from. I want some delicious fruit for eating out of hand, and some interesting things for cooking and jam making as well, and just for the pleasure of watching them grow. Maybe the answer is I need to move further north where I can have some actual land to grow things, LOL. 24 trees. I am so jealous. Right now I have an avocado and a couple of mango trees in the ground, so 5 is all I think I will have space for. From what I have been reading, if I choose blood orange, I won't get that nice deep color as it is not cool enough down here to develop that nice color. So, maybe a lime, meyer lemon, tangelo, some type of grapefruit and maybe a kumquat, a sout orange, calamondin, yuzu? OK, that's more than five. Aargh! I want them all!!!
Once I get a little more experience with citrus, maybe I will try my hand at grafting. This is a great forum. I have learned a lot from reading and I can't wait to get started.

1. Moro or Tarocco Blood orange
2. Sanbokan lemon
3. minneola tangelo
4. Meyer lemon
5. any type of Satsuma
and squeeze in a page tangerine.

I got hooked on citrus this year and I had a small yard also. I did 5 standard size citrus in the ground. Those choices were a Valencia Orange, Washington Navel Orange, Improved Meyer Lemon, Eureka Lemon and Bears Lime. I also did a bunch of dwarfs in containers. Those were Key Lime, Moro Blood Orange, Rio Red Grapefruit, Oroblanco Grapefruit, Owari Satsuma Mandarin, Variegated Pink Lemon, Chandler Pummelo, Kaffir Lime, Gold Nugget Mandarin and Tarocco Blood Orange.

Lady...think of it this way..At least you're in Fl, where citrus are grown outdoor, 365 days a year.
So, even if you got one tree to grow, bloom and fruit, a tree that will beautify your yard, scent the area, plus fruit to ogle and even eat, you're very lucky.

Perhaps you can choose one of each variety..for instance, grapefruit, orange, lemon, lime, etc. Would that work? Of course, we need them all, lol, but if it's a matter of space.........
Since you're in Fl, and looking for grafted, reasonably priced trees, try www.briteleaf.com or www.harriscitrus.com
I buy citrus from both growers. (Well, did before the ban) Check out their sites. Both women are very nice to talk to, helpful, so if you need advice they'll be more than happy to answer questions..both know a TON of info growing citrus, in the ground and pots.
I'm not sure of their current prices, but most trees, (which are tall, healthy, pest-free, canker-free, loaded w/leaves and some have fruit, go between 15.00-25.00. Shipping might have gone up, but prices were 10.00 per tree or 15.00 for two, (at Briteleaf) Harris was 10.00 per tree. It's even possible their nurseries are driviing distance. Then you won't have to worry about shipping.
Good luck, and yes, it's very hard choosing 'x' amount of plants when we want them all..LOL..Good luck, Toni

Daisy tangerine, Kinnow tangerine, these 2 give me early and late fruit so that I have tangerines 7 months of the year.
pick a lemon any lemon, I think Eureka is my favorite but mostly because it produces so well. Meyer is less tart, less acid but some prefer it. Meyer also can dwarf more easily for limited space.
Coctail "grapefruit" which really isn't a grapefruit but it's big like one. Lovely light refreshing taste, very sweet with just a little tang.
Red shaddock - unique citrus flavor. somewhat short season but that's ok because I eat them so fast.

Thanks for your input everybody. This is what I chose:
Meyer lemon
Satsuma Mandarin
Minneola Tangelo
Valencia Orange
Rangpur Lime
Once I get these going I will probably get some more in containers as you did, hammerca.
Maybe if I can ever convince my husband that I would really prefer plants as gifts rather than perfume and flowers I can score one of those cocktail trees. LOL.

Pondorosa Lemon....Easy to grow and hardy.Big flowers and fruit!

Washington Navel......Lots of flowers and lots of sweet seedless fruit

Lemon Meyer....Flowers continually, profusely, hardy, lots of fragrance

Oro Blanco Grapefruit....Huge sweet smelling flowers

Key lime....Constant fruit,,,great for sqeezing for a cold bear

5!!!HUM...I think I will get a MORO Blood Orange. Thanks to some of you, seems like you really like this one..lol. Where the heck can I get one?

softmentor
I would guess you are looking forward to the University releasing the seedless version of the Daisy. I can't wait for them to be successful with a seedless cocktail grapefruit. That has to be my favorite tasting citrus. Too bad it has to have like a thousand seeds per fruit.

Will the cocktail grapefruit do well in a pot?

LadyM
I don't grow anything in pots so I can't say if cocktail grapefruit will do well in a pot.
RE rangpur lime, I hope you are aware it is NOT a lime, not even remotely. The problem comes from words used for different citrus in other languages and the way it was translate. Rangpur is a sour orange and pretty much worthless.

I read on some cooking sites that it is has a complex flavor, like a mandarin but sour and would add a complex flavor to things that you would normally use limes or lemons for, like pies, lemonade, etc. Not true?
The cocktail grapefruit sounds really yummy though. Maybe I will do that in the ground if I can find one, and the rangpur lime in a pot instead.

moro blood orange
key lime
meyer lemon
valencia orange
buddahs hand

Satsumas are hardy enough to grow and produce excellent fruit in my area in the open ground. My area is 40 miles south of Fayetteville, NC a few miles from the SC state line. They thrive in this hot and humid area and the winter temps do little or no damage. In recent years, lows of 19F
does only some leaf damage which is no problem. They have been exposed to temps of 12-15F several times and only had minor tip damage. All are grafted on P. trifoliata which gives extra hardiness.

My top 5 :
LA Early
Brown Select
Miyagawa
Dobashi Beni
Owari

Actually, the top 5 was hard to choose as Silverhill and Kishu are just as good.

Jack

LadyM,
Yes some people use Rangpur that way. I don't think much of it myself. I'd rather use a good tangerine juice, or I would recomend other sour oranges rather than Rangpur.
I use tangerine and pomegranate to make a REALLY yummy BBQ sauce too. Add low salt soy sauce (aka light soy) and a little bit or sugar and reduce at rapid boil. mmmmmhhhmmmm (smiles his jolly smile)

As a newbie I loved the concept of this thread and felt the need to revive it a little. I live in zone 5 (30 miles west of Chicago) and would like some help choosing plants that will thrive in my location. I am planning on ordering 4 plants from Four Winds (2 2-3 year olds and 2 1 year olds) to grow as indoor/outdoor plants. I would love to be able to get more than four but I currently live in a condo with limited balcony/patio space unfortunately.

I would like to get a lime, lemon, mandarin and orange (leaning towards a blood). I'm pretty sure I want a Bearss lime and a Tarocco blood orange but would love some insight on a good lemon and mandarin. I hear novices should be leary of Meyers so I would like to try something else. I love the classic Eureka lemon but I don't know much about the different variates of lemon out there aside from the 3 sentance descritions of each on Four Winds' website. I was curious about the Mediterranean/other varieties on Four Winds' site (Villafranca, Genoa, Limonero fino, Lisbon, Ponderosa, Yen Ben & Varigated), specifically if they have any flavor and/or production perks over the Eureka. As for mandarins it seems like alot of folks seem to like the Owari Satsuma for it's hardiness/flavor and I was leaning in that direction but I really need some help deciding on a mandarin as well. I care most about flavor (a good tart/sweet combo) and would appreciate good production. What four plants would you get if you were me? I would love any advice or suggestions!

Thanks!
Joe

I have over 21 citrus planted in the ground now, from oranges to kumquats, grapefruits and pomelos to tangelos, lemons, and limes.

My favorite five are pretty much all things grapefruit. The bigger the better. I eat a grapefruit for breakfast pretty much every morning.

1.Page Mandarin
2.Ponkan
3.Honey Murcott
4.Cara Cara Naval
5.Lee, Nova, Dancy-one of these
6.Owari satsuma- or that new Xia shan
All on Flying Dragon 7ft. apart.

brancato,

If I were you, I would get some of the easiest to grow. Ones that flower abundantly, can take weather flucuations easier, like going outdoors and coming indoors. can also take te,perature ranges from cold to warm within the same day. Also pick ones that produce pretty good fruit.

Hers is what I suggest sinse you are new...Not my favorite in order, but very fun to grow...;-)Some are my favorites!

#1...."Washington Navel"

#2...."Oro Blanco" grapefruit

#3...."Ponerosa"

4#...."Kumquat"

I think as a beginner, you will find it a joy to do well from the start with these. Once you do well, then you could probably move on to a tougher variety suuh as a "lemon myer", which if I could do well with this one, it would be my BEST for overall beauty, fragrance, fruit, also it blooms all year, everblooming. How I wish I could be good at growing meyers.

Hope I helped you out.

By the way, Four Winds carries all of these.

Even try a "clementine". My friend has one that is so pretty. It has awsome tasting fruit! Still another a challange to grow though..

Take care...

Mike..:-)

kumquats
Meyer's lemon
Valencia
Persian lime
Moro blood Orange

Lemon Meyer (for cooking and in tea and lemonade and marmalade and lemon curd)
Key lime (for pies!)
Washington Navel (favorite for eating and juice)
Honey tangerines (so sweet for snacking)
Jaffa Sweetie pomelo (sweetest grapefruit)

Bearss Lime hands down! Yummy in Margaritas, guacamole, and all things south of the border!

Awesome suggestions everyone! I can read 2 sentance descriotions of various citrus all day long online, but it really helps to get first hand info from people with experiance. By the way Mike, never give up on the Meyer! I am going to try one next year I think but I still have to get my citrus bearings.

Joe

Thanks brancato,

You are so kind in your words.

If you ever do get a meyer and you do well with it through a winter, you better share your secret with me....:-)

So far njoasis has. I need a back up plan if my friend backs out on me and my garage..

Lets us know when you order. I would love to know what you chose! :-)

Mike

Anytime Mike! As it stands right now I am leaning towards a bearss lime, gold nugget mandarin, varigated pink lemon and a tarocco blood orange (all 2-3 yr old plants). I may have to swap out the tarocco for something else (maybe a cara cara navel?) because four winds only has one year old versions of that tree and for some reason it is actually more expensive to get three 2-3 yr olds and one 1 yr old plant shipped to me than four 2-3 yr olds. No joke, for four 2-3 yr olds it will cost $212 with shipping and for three 2-3 yr olds and one 1 yr old it will cost me $228. It costs $189 for three 2-3 yr olds so it just makes sense to fork out the extra $20 to get four 2-3 yr olds, so I might just have to forego the tarocco. I emailed Four Winds to see if there might be 2-3 yr olds ready sometime soon (or if they have a backup supplier that fills in inventory when something is low), but I doubt I'll have luck getting the 2-3 yr old tarocco. So as of right now I am debating between the cara cara navel (or some other type of orange) and an oro blanco grapefruit.

Joe

Joe,

If you are going for fragrance, I will have to say, you have to get an "oro blanco" grapefruit. One open flower from this tree equalls dozens of flowers from any other citrus that smells wonderful!

Not as strong as the meyer, but easier to care for, nad just as nice! I hear the grapefruit tastes good too. Not difficult to ripen in our cold climate areas..

They also give oof BIG beautiful flowers.

Just 2 open flowers a while back permeated my whole house through a closed door!:-)
This has also been the hardiest one for me to grow all winter. Not one leaf fell off, and it grew as well indoors as it would of outdoors...Amazing!!

Mike,
I keep reading good things about the oro blanco and am seriously considering it over the tarocco blood orange (the rep at Four Winds said he was not sure what kind of success I would have with it as an indoor plant [although I do not know if he understood that it'd only be indoors in the winter]). I still want to wait a bit to order them so I can take them outside right away (after letting them sit inside after repotting them as to not shock 'em). I cannot wait for consistantly nice weather! I have about 100 plant seeds germinating right now and a few things are already getting pretty big (cucs, zuchs, beans, ect). They are already dying to get outside!

Joe

Hi Joe,

I was curious as to what you meant by this, "(after letting them sit inside after repotting them as to not shock 'em)".
?

By the way, I will try to post a picture of my oro blanco with two fruit on it for you....Just got to find the time..lol

Mike,

First of all I would like to apologize for that fragmented/incomplete thought... I probably should have explained that one. What I should have said was that I believe that I heard it was a good idea to keep the plants inside for a couple of days right after you get them via mail to keep from shocking them? After you keep them inside for a couple days you move them to a part shade outdoor area and then full sun. A couple of folks at citrus.forumup.org suggested that to try to minimize initial leaf drop when you get a plant mailed to you and re-pot it. I very well could be wrong about that but I thought thats what I heard.

I would love to see the oro blanco, but no hurry, when you get time!

Joe

I had a feeling that is what you said..:-)

Just a suggestion. I would pot them up as soon as you recieve them, and leave them outdoors in a shady spot for a bit. Then introduce them back to the sun gradually. They are use to this treatment at the nursery since they are grown outdoors.
This was suggested to me by my friends at the citrus nursery.

As for how long before you put them back in the sun, I am not sure. Maybe someone can gives us an idea. I just transplanted 4 and I am not sure how long before I can put them back into full sun.

Last year when I recieved mine, I potted them up and then I stuck them right back out the in the after a couple of days from adjusting from shipment and potting up. I might of gone against all odds, because they never reacted badly. In fact they did quite good..So unless someone suggests different, I will do same.

Take care for now.

P.S I just realized that we hijacked ladymarmalades thread!! Shoot. It can be so easy to do.
Brancto, if you wnat to, just e-mail me, or I will catch you on another thread about this...

Sorry ladymarmalade!
My top 5 again.

Pondorosa Lemon....
Washington Navel...

Lemon Meyer....

Oro Blanco Grapefruit....

Key lime....

Sounds good Mike, I would guess a few days would be fine, but I have absoultly nothing backing that.

Joe

Since this has come around again, I have discovered a new fav. Although I love the red shaddock, I now have a Tahiti pommelo that is producing and wow, was I surprised. The skin in very thin, unlike most pommelo, juicy! sweet and wonderful. so, add Tahitian Pom to my list!
I may have to graft that red shaddock on the same tree and cheat though! lol