Dwarf citrus (grafted onto dwarfing rootstock) would be a good option - citrus needs some specialized care, but they are rewarding and attractive. Meyer lemons, calamondin, kumquat would probably be best suited for your situation. Citrus can often be thorny, depending on the variety. Guavas are often suggested as good container plants. My experience with them wasn't so great, but I think I'm just not as familiar with them as with other fruit trees, and I hadn't learned proper care. When well cared for they are *supposed* to be rather easy. As for the fruit, I've always found the seediness of guavas to be a serious nuisance, but the flavor is fantastic. Pepinos or tamarillos would be worth considering as well. Tamarillos are a bit big for a houseplant, but they take pruning well, and will grow to fruit very quickly. The fruit is certainly an acquired taste - a very deep and complex blackberry-pomegranate-with-tomato aftertaste - but I love them; you can make a dynamite fruit salsa with them. If the plant is happy, it will produce lots and lots of fruit. Tamarillos (the plant) has a musky, nightshadey smell that isn't so appealing which is one drawback. Pepinos are smaller, and the fruit is sweet, a bit like a mild honeydew in flavor, with a texture similar to the firm parts of a tomato. Very nice looking plants. Both pepinos and tamarillos are tomato relatives, and they are highly succeptible to the same kinds of pests that tomatoes can be plagued by. They are longer-lived, and can't take a frost, but their growing demands are otherwise similar to tomatoes, eggplant, et. al.

Still waiting for names of proven plants that will bloom for me in a bright north window..... Meyermike, Thanks for your "growlights" suggestion....citrus plants with sweetly scented blossoms and the possibility of fruiting trees....sounds like it's worth a try.... I took a look at your plant photos in the citrus forum, WELL, your plants with that glossy foliage, blossoms and fruit, Truly amazingly beautiful!!!!!!! I'm not sure of the "appearance" of having grow lights on as this is my TV room also. Please tell me how many hours I should need to have the lights on? For instance, can I have them on from 6am. to 6pm. so that the lights aren't distracting while using the living room in the evening hours? I like this bright apartment and don't have any curtains on these glorious windows and don't feel comfortable being all "lit up" overnight. Something I will most definitely think about. Thanks a bunch. Oh yeah, I will look to see what kind of Clivias are at our greenhouses.

Thanks, guys, for the suggestions! Somehow, I stopped receiving notifications re: this thread. I came back to research some of the plants that had been recommended. Mr. Like -- to be clear, it's not that I don't use AC; it's that the majority of SF apartments do not HAVE air conditioning. Trust me -- if I did, I am one of those people that keep my home at 68*! Thankfully, we really have a handful of days that are unbearable and the other days in the heat of summer will be 78 degrees. Temperate, but the sun is blasting where I live (right outside the city). Roses, I have both! Jasmine is one of my favorites and Gardenias....well, let's just say I keep gardenia nurseries in business. Long story. Lol Update on the ledge - that sill really receives very little sun overall now, and probably more so when the sun goes to full summer position.. Maybe 1-2 hours of direct and then it's basically shade because of that casing between the tall and lower windows. If anything, the pots get blasted and leaves are I'm shade. Now determined to put plants there -- I just bought three "over the sink" shelves which would raise if about 9". Combined with the height of my pots, I think this will put most plants in full, direct sun. Potentially a lot more than my outdoor balcony! Indoor herbs, lavender and sansevieria -- here I come. Fingers crossed! If that works, Imma go nuts with some more plants!

That long 6' tendril? I would just wrap it around the bottom ring of the cage- kind of weaving it so it stays.. Then it should sprout side vines who will try to grow straight up- Wrap those too.. Eventually you'll end up with a quite long vine all wrapped into a compact space. Then when winter comes it's easy to move the vine inside (if it's not already) & hang one of those 'circline' flourescent bulbs above it. It's how I keep my tropical vines alive through all the frost.