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Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Obsessing about Citrus

Once, no, three times, I attempted to grow citrus on this patio. The plants came from California, and grew for a while, partly on the deck, partly indoors during the cool and wet winter months. And every time these small trees flowered, they fueled my hope for a harvest of juicy Meyer lemons or limes with the accompanying smiles and visions of Margarita drinks and ultimate relaxation.

Not that I ever entertained during my California or Florida days with Margarita drinks!

Somehow, I wanted that vision to become reality.

Somehow, I spared no expenses in getting the plants, the proper fertilizer, and even heated a drafty sun-room during the long winter wait for sun and warmth. Did I mention expensive? The house did not come with a sun-room!

Now, I buy my Meyers and my lime at whatever price whenever I'm tempted to grow citrus again. By my accounting, I have spent less on these fruit all winter long, for the last five years, than a month of heating bills to keep that darn sun-room heated.

Nothing, however, will take away the desire to have a heavily scented citrus tree in the house during the long grey, wet, dreary, and cold winter months.

How about you? What are you still obsessing about?


19 comments:

L. D. said...

I have always wanted to try citrus but never saw a good supplier to sell me any. I know I would have a hard time knowing how to water it as it is a foreign plant compared to house plants.

Brian Miller said...

i hear you...it is one of th things i miss about florida....we had an orange tree, a lime tree and a banana tree in the back yard...it was glorious...many a morning my son and i sat by the lake and ate oranges to our hearts content (and swollen bellies...hahaha)

rjerdee said...

I'm still obsessing about clearing the extras out of my house. Stuff just comes in and there's always something to take out!!

MunirGhiasuddin said...

Awe- - - I know what you mean. I am like that with Jasmine. We grew up with Jasmine Trellis in my parents house and I yearn for that smell.
Citrus is beautiful too. Right now I have a bottle of Citrus fragrance lotion from Bath and Body works, sitting on a shelf in the hall close to the bathroom. Every now and then some one will walk by, grab the bottle and dab a few blobs on their hands and rub all over up to their elbows. Great Citrus fragrance in the air and softer skin too.

Maggie May said...

Oh dear...... I don't think they are the easiest things to grow. Don't blame you for deciding to buy the fruits instead of trying to grow them!
I used to obsess about lots of gardening ventures. Nowadays its just to find the strength & will power to keep well and keep going come what may!
Maggie x

Nuts in May

joeh said...

There is something about growing or making your own.

My brother had a 40ft sailboat that he lived on for several years with his wife. I visited once and he bragged about making a drink with ice from his newly installed ice maker. "I hope you enjoy the drink, the ice cubes are now down to a cost of about $40 a cube...each drink drops the per cube cost, it was about $50 a cube."

Friko said...

I have a citrus plant in my sun room. It sits outside the door in summer and comes back in in October. I cut down the branches once in two years and new growth emerges. It’s starting to flower now and I probably won’t have any fruit until next winter, or maybe even the summer after that. But when they come I have a dozen or so.

And the smell is heavenly.

Meryl Baer said...

I am visiting a friend who follows a vegan diet. I want a really juicy hamburger!

The Broad said...

Lately, I've been obsessing about time, and how it is slipping away. I obsess about it to such an extent that I never get done what I could have if I hadn't been obsessing about it!

Rob-bear said...

I'm not obsessing about anything but am sorry to hear of your difficulties with your citrus.

In our very-non-citrus climate, I see a lemon tree (scrawny thing) growing taller every year. Lots of sun in the summer, and some shelter in the winter, I guess. Wish you could do as well. Perhaps this time?

Blessings and Bear hugs!

Kerry said...

Ooooh, wouldn't that be lovely, a lemon tree in the house? Keep trying! I bet you can do it.

ellen abbott said...

I've never tried to grow oranges or lemons. for a year or two I was all about getting bushels of oranges and having fresh squeezed orange juice in the mornings so lots of seeds went into the compost pile. In the spring, they sprouted. Gave one to my friend down the street and I transplanted one for myself. she has a wonderful orange tree in her yard and mine turned out to be night blooming jasmine. A gift from some bird. Now I have night blooming jasmine all over.

Helga said...

We moved, to a temporary place for now. What was dear to my heart I did not want to leave behind or lose? Well (next to all the other stuff I can’t let go of), my plants which I pampered from seeds and tiny seedlings to something almost resembling worthwhile flowers that filled countless pots of all sizes. My pride and joy, which I had to lug from Westwood to the San Fernando Valley, ended up at my son’s who, if he even knows they are there, could care less about watering the mostly scrawny things I deposited in his yard. To top it off, the at times cold Valley nights let most of them droop and dry. But, I haven’t given up hope that some of them will make it and grace my future home. Maybe I should stop schlepping past stuff around with me?

the walking man said...

Though it will be about a year i am only obsessed with the bankruptcy of Detroit seeing as that is where my pension comes from and they have already dropped all of our medical once to reinstate it to drop it again.

yaya said...

You're the second blogger to write about lemon trees this week! My Mom has a lemon tree that she bought in the summer and kept it on her deck. She brought it inside for the winter. When I was visiting her this past Christmas it had a ton of fruit on it. She lives in Chicago..crazy good luck or is she just a good gardener? Right now I'm obsessing over trying to keep my goal of weight loss for this year! Right now I hear a bag of M&M' s calling my name...Back to obsessing.

dianefaith said...

My father-in-law loved to grow watermelons on an acre of red clay in the North Georgia hills. His wife always estimated the cost of each one at around $50, and that was back in the 1980's. Those melons would come in at a couple of hundred now. I can't remember if they were even good.
I obsess about walking. . . always going to start a daily program *soon* but don't quite get around to it. The current excuse is temperatures in the teens.

Amanda Summer said...

I can see myself becoming enamored of Meyer lemons. I had a bag full in the fridge but needed more recipes to use them with.

Hilary said...

I think that living in the more northern climate like I do, it never would occur to me to try to grow something citrus. But it would be lovely to have limes growing and pluckable at a Mojito's notice.

Diane said...

I so miss my lemon trees that we had in S.Africa, we always had a lemon on hand. Think I must get a potted one here, problem is finding it a bright home for winter! Have a good day Diane.