Based on my
experience with apples, pears, peaches, and cherries, I thought I knew how
fruit trees produce fruit. They bloom in the spring and all their fruit
ripens in a short period of time. Cherries ripen in early summer, the others in
the fall. I was amazed to learn that citrus trees have a different schedule.
Some of the fruit hangs on the tree even while a new bloom cycle begins, as you
can see in this photo of a Seville orange tree in the Tucson Botanical Gardens.
We are excited to
have our own citrus trees – one orange and one lemon – just planted a few days
ago. The orange is blooming gloriously.
The blossoms are
exquisite and smell heavenly.
The lemon isn’t
blooming but it has fruit in various stages of development. One full-sized
lemon broke off when the tree was delivered, but there is another, smaller one
on the tree.
A dozen or more
tiny lemons are just getting started.
As a bonus, we
have a fig tree. The nursery pruned the tree but still it has a dozen or more
baby figs.
Toto, I don’t
think we’re in Kansas anymore!
Copyright
2016 by Shirley Domer
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