Hi Paul,

Next time you in OKC drop by and I'll give you some 1 gallon citrumelos. The citrumelo is a grapefruit crossed with poncirus. Those outdoor citrumelos next to my machine shop are now huge being around 14 feet tall with a trunk of 4 inches in diameter. I think they will bloom and fruit this next spring. Citrumelo is one of the better 50/50 hybrids for edibility. No true citrus will survive in our region without building a greenhouse over the plant. Changsha mandarin is close to a truely hardy totally edible citrus around but it needs protection below 15*f or so. Some citrangequats are said to be edible and hardy to zero.

However I am working to breed a good poncirus hybrid and one of these days... lol

I also have some 5 gallon Sabal 'Birmingham' if your interested.

Hi DOn, Thanks for the message, I would love to take you up on the oitrumelos offer. Next time I come to town I will try to get with you. (Would you contact me privately with your phone number). After I posted this I read some of your latest postings, I guess this month, about what you have achieved. Pretty impressive. John gave me some S. birmingham seeds last year and they have germinated but you know how slow those are. I am interested in a big one although I thought you were out of the palm business. Paul

Hi Paul,

I am out of business growing those palms because the local sales were not there. The 5 gallon Sabal 'Birmingham' are all I have and man they are nice being over 5 years old.

I am building a business with hardy citrus. I think I might be able to sell hardy citrus to the locals at various farmer markets. Right now the hardy citrus business is still in a development phase and when the heavy hitters start fruiting I'll be budding them. It just takes so many years to get something like this going. The plant that will be my likely breakthrough in hardy and edible is a select SanCitChang ('Sandford' citrange x 'Changsha' mandarin) that seems zero degree hardy and might be edible being only 1/4 poncirus. It could take several years before fruiting wood develops. Then there are those f1 hybrids I have been breeding from the monoquat (procimequat x Fortunella margarita) and citsuma (Satsuma x poncirus). The 'Citsumaquat' hybrids have a good chanse of being hardy and edible but only testing will tell. The Fortunella hindsii in Citsumaquat will likely allow quick to mature fruiting wood so the taste test won't be so many years away as with most citrus grown from seed. With the monoquat I can easily make f1 poncirus hybrids looking for that magic one of edible and hardy. I hope the hardy citrus business will workout outherwise I'm out of the hort business. It's just too much work for too little money. It's my interest more than money that keeps me going with citrus. 'Bradford' pears is where the money's at! lol

Hey Don,

Keep us posted as to your progress! There are many of us here in the DC (roughly zone 7) area that are looking for an 'edible' citrus for our area. If they're mostly evergreen, well that's icing on the cake.

I have eaten SanCitChang. The one I ate was as good as a satsuma.

Here is a link that might be useful: mrtexas

Don,

Do you have a web site where one can purchase some of your hardy citrus?

Dave

Dave, I am growing a myers lemon in a pot in zone 8. The leaves are getting black on them and the 2 lemons are turning yellow. When I read about what you are doing to get hardy plants I got excited. Tell me how can I get a plant or two?

Hey Paul...you might go the route I did. I am having major sucess. I live down the road from Dallas...a bit Sotuh of you but still cold as Heck. We were down to 19 the other night. Ice everywhere. Anyway, I planted Owari Satumas' (a fantastic flavored Tangerine) right up against a South wall. I mean right on it- the trunks are perhaps 6 inches from the wall.. the trees grow pretty much flat. The wall serves as a heat radiator at night. It(the wall) heats during the day, when the sun is low in the South(winter) horizon. This has worked amazingly well for me. I do no additional protection..none! I picked buckets of the best Owaris' the other day and am handing them out to friends(and eating tons of them myself). They are amazed at the flavor and color. In their 3rd season, the Owaris' are now going up over the roof line so this should be intersting to see how they handel the cold "up there". I am not suprised that the Owaris' are doing so well, Satsumas(as a group) are super cold tolerant. The most amazing thing however is that I also planted a Meyer Lemon and a Morrow Blood Orange (very tender) and both have thrived under the same treatment. The Morrow does get some burn on the branches that tend to grow away from the house wall. I just call this natural pruning! Now, I would never tell you to plant a Morrow or a lemon BUT...give the Satsumas a shot. They will reward you. You will be able to get them this spring at Lowes. I work for the nursery that grows them for Lowes and I know we ship to your stores. Also, consider a Kumquat...such neat little trees. Even more cold tolerant too! Yes, you should find them at Lowes too.
Oh, the first year, when the tress were very small, I "pinned" the branches to the wall with those coffee cup screws. I screwd them into the wall and slipped the flexable branches into the "hook" part. It held them flat against the wall. I wanted to give them the best chance at making it thru their first winter. It might not have been needed but I figured why not? For you, I think if your walls are wood, I would for sure do something like that. Anyway, give it a shot. The tree should cost you around 13-15 bucks. You MIGHT find some on clearance right now. A few stores (Lowes) still have them laying around.

Thanks Timb, Thanks so much. That is just what I am looking for. I will check Lowe's now and in the spring. I do grow a lowquat and a citromelo next to the house and a poncirus out in the yard. That is quite a testimonal. I hope I get the same results and can share fruit. Paul

Hi Paul
My name is William and I live near Macon Georgia and I grow a number of citrus outdoors year round. Here are some cold hardy varieties that you might like to try. Nansho Daidai is a sour orange and is hardy to around zero. The juice can be used for cooking and drinks. Juanita Tangerine is also hardy to around zero and is as good as many store bought tangerines.Changsha,Yuzu,Ichang Lemon and Thomasville Citrangequat are all hardy under ten degrees. In Tulsa even the most hardy ones will need some protection.

Try these sites: http://mckenzie-farms.com/photo.htm
http://www.justfruitsandexotics.com/index.html
http://www.sepalms.org/

I hope these sites will be of use to you.

I'm interested in getting a Juanita Tangerine, Do you have a source for them?

I think Mckenzie-Farms has them.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mckenzie-Farms

I have a Thomasville that I got from Stan McKenzie that is 3 years old now and growing quite well. WE have had 2 winters in a row with consistenly cold temperatures here in Louisville, KY. It has lost its leaves every year so far but springs back with now problem. This year it has reached 6 feet tall with only a bit of Tip die back and this was with no protection. Now it is up against a south wall and I am sure that helps too. I also have Sabal Birmingham (very slow grower) with very little winter injury, Trachy taylor form and Tracy Bulgarica that do well here too but do need protection. It looks better this year than ever before. This was just an experiment but it worked much better than I expected. It might work very well for you too. Don OKC is the supreme master in this hardy citrus department and I would go on what he says more than anyone. Best wishes, I would certainly try it.

Rqhansen, how cold has the tree been exposed too?

thanks Frank