Thanks, fruitnut :-) I figured of all folks, you'd have this tree, lol! Really glad to hear this. This is the same opinion I got at Clausen's. They're always very honest about their opinions - they're a 2nd or 3rd generation nursery and have a wide variety of citrus and lots of experience with them. He gave me a 2 thumb's up on the Cara Cara and said he actually thought they were better than Washington, too, and that says a lot. Plus, they're very pretty, and great in a salad. I bought a Moro last year from Clausen's because of all 3 blood oranges, this one is the very best for our area according to Clausen's. Very dependable, gets sweet and very red. Much more consistent than Tarocco or Sanguinello. Mine hasn't flushed or blossomed, yet, so I'm going to pinch it and the Bearss Lime back a wee bit to force some flush. After this cold blast we're getting, though. then fertilize. I also picked up a Page mandarin and a Gold Nugget. Again, great, great reports on both of those. Clausen's also recommends Pixie, which I bought last year and is just beginning to send out little blossoms, so I'll have my first crop this year. My Clementine has about 15 little fruits, plus one ripe one I'm about ready to pluck to try. Plus picked up a few of Poms - Wonderful, Sweet, Phil's Sweet, and Pink Satin (Pink Ice). And I've got 3 more on order from Raintree - Eversweet, Parfianka and Red Silk. I needed something to fill in my hillside right below my citrus trees, where I have quite a bit of lavender and rosemary growing, and needed some pops of color. So, instead of just some Mediterranean ornamental, I opted for Poms which are ornamental and provide some great fruit! All told now, I've got about 60 different fruit trees and berry bushes. We'll be sharing with our neighbors and family for sure :-) Patty S.

Patty I put up two pictures of the new Red on my blog linked below. The rootstock is Carrizo Citrange. As you can see it is not a well balanced tree but coming out the more bare side is a good branch that should bring it back in balance. I plan on turning the bare side South when I plant the tree to give it the best sun. I want to keep it as close as practical to the Southern side of my house for cold protection. Do you think I can go as close as 12-15 feet? It has blooms and a few have set fruit. I think I will pinch those off. Here is a link that might be useful: Georgia Home Orchard blog

Hi Laura, thank you! I can't believe how much it has grown in 2 years either. As for the variegated branch, no it did not flower this season, I'm hoping it does next season. My tree has 4 fruit left on it, this is the first season it produced. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll get double that amount of fruit next year. The fruits that are on the tree now are very heavy, they're weighing the branches down and the fruit is almost sitting on the ground. I will probably have to support the branches before too long to keep them off the ground. I'm tempted to plant another Cara Cara where I just pulled the seedless kishu out of the ground. They seem to do well in the desert, every time we have a heat wave it pushes out a bunch of new growth. Laura can we see a photo of your Cara Cara? Evan

The contraption below uses 18 watt CFL's. It has 12 of them. There is enough room for 16 *** 5 gallon bucket trees or one year i did 16 pepper plants in 5's. The walls of the box should be aluminum foil lined. This holds the heat and humidity in. In my case 50% of my heating bill is the meter charge before I use any gas. It cost just as much to heat with gas as it does with CFL's. Might as well grow beats, citrus trees and garden starts. If I lived in KY just 5 miles south I would not get that meter fee and it would be a waste of money. Might as well purchase my garden starts from home depot and buy my citrus fruits at Kroger's fruit department. Save my yard for apple peaches pears and plums. June 23rd my birthday comes. If you heat with oil, electric, or propane, It is no more to heat with CFL's. Might as well grow citrus trees in the basement. Pip is absolutely correct with his diagram for an open room. The center bulb can be remove with only a little loss to the trees. however if you use the container I use with the bright white/foiled walls you can do what I did. T*****T******T******T **L****L****L****L T*****T******T******T **L***************L T*****T******T******T **L**************L T******T******T******T The above was the exact setup for my pepper plant. I was picking peppers 5 weeks before frost safe set out date. It really does pay to grow green and peppers in with your citrus tree with the $$$$avings in organic produce and tree growth advancements. Notice the beets on the first level to provide heat for the roots of the citrus trees above. We had a death in the family and my wife collected many memories. As a result we have no room anywhere in our house and we lost the ability to grow greens. The greenhouse is not warm enough. Heating the greenhouse is $$$$$$$$$$$$ out of the question. The link below shows the things I did that REALLY WORKED WELL. Here is a link that might be useful: http://s1094.photobucket.com/user/wreristhechimney/slideshow/sunshine2013