Citrus Information
There are so many choices for the very best citrus tree for your individual site and what you would best fit in with your needs.
Let's start with Oranges. Two different kinds that we all know and love. Navels are the eating orange and Valencia's are the best for juice.Navels have that funny little button like a navel at the end of the fruit. It's like a little tiny orange.
They peel easily and also divide into segments nicely without getting juice all over you. The Washington Navel is the best known and probably still the very best one to buy. Navels get ripe in the winter.
The Washington Navel will have fruit ripening from November into April... ....
A bit of History on this orange. The Washington Navel came from Brazil around 1875 as part of a group of orange trees. It came to the arboretum in Washington DC and then was shipped to Eliza Tibbet who was living in Riverside California. She received two trees and they were both wonderful One tree eventually died but the other still living on Arlington St. in Riverside, California.As far as I know still having oranges.A few years ago they gave it a brand new root and a new lease on life.
They soon became a winner because they ripen in winter, have great flavor and wonderful orange color. that started a boom of planting Washinton Navels and soon Navels were planted all over the Riverside, San Bernardino area. The Sunkist Orange brand was born out of that orange industry. The picture of hundreds of Orange trees with beatiful oranges and the California Sunkist brand brought many an eastener to Southern Califiornias sunny climes.
Another connection:
When my husband Bob was looking for a place to grow plants that had a better climate than New York he came to look at Californa He drove over the pass and looked down at a the riverside area and saw a sea of beautiful Orange trees. He often said that those oranges were what covinced him that California was the place he wanted to be. If he had not seen those Orange trees, settled in Southern California and met then Evelyn Peterson at her parents nursery....well there wouldn't be a Weidner's Gardens and you wouldn't be reading this page right now. The Washington is still the favorite but there are other newer oranges also.Like the Cara Cara
One of the best is the Cara Cara Orange. A navel orange that has a pinkish flesh, very sweet and good. The Oranges ripen from December through April.
This Orange came from Venezuela in 1976. If you like trying something a little different try CaraCara.
Lane Late Navel Orange..Very much like Cara Cara but Lane late is like its name. It ripens later than Cara Cara and comes to us from Australia.
Trovita Orange
.....Spring ripening. Wide range of climate adaptation. Develops great flavor even in areas of low summer heat such as the coastal areas of California. Few seeds. this is one of the few orange trees that can be done indoors because it will get sweet even without a lot of heat.
It ripens in the spring
and also blooms in the spring so you get blooms and fruit at the same time. Sport of Washington Navel.
this Orange is the one you want for good oranges that are so juicy and sweet. It take 18 months for the whole cycle from bloom to juice. You will ofte see bloms and fruit in all stages on the tree at the same time.
.......Moro Blood Orange. Tangerines/ Mandarins and Tangelos
What is the difference and which ones should you choose
All tangerines are mandarins but not all mandarins are tangerines.There are more than 200 varieties and sports of the Mandarin Orange. The name Tangerine was given in America because of the color.
Satsuma is one of the best for you to choose. it ripens early, peels easily and has great flavor. It is actually a mutation of the original Mandarin Orange. Darcy is another commonly sold Tangerine.
Nobody cares what you call them as long as you eat them.
The number one choice is the Satsuma. Darcy is another popular variety.
Golden Nugget and Pixie are almost the same. .Gold Nugget -- a seedless, sweet tangerine with an extraordinarily long harvest season -- has become the first new UCR citrus variety to be released for commercial production since the mid-1980s.
More than 30 years in the making, the new tangerine -- also known as a mandarin -- received its descriptive name from its bright orange, slightly bumpy rind. But Gold Nugget is particularly regarded for its rich, sweet flavor. Additionally, it is seedless, a highly-sought attribute for the fresh fruit market.
“It also holds very well on the tree,” said Mikeal Roose, a UCR professor of genetics who since 1986 has directed continued development of the Gold Nugget variety. “In Riverside, the fruit is good-tasting when picked from the tree anytime between February and May or June.”
so should be a bit better.
Tangelos are larger and are a cross between a Tangerine, Grapefruit & Orange.
Kumquats anyone? If you have never tasted Kumquats they are a little different. A very sweet skin and a rather sour inside fruit. You eat it all together and the two flavors blend together. Beautiful tiny fruits, they make wonderful Chutney, marmelade or just stewed with sugar.
from left to right some pictures for you. They all look and taste good
Satusuma, Pixie, (no photo available for Golden Nugget), Tangelo Mineola and Kumquat Meiwa
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There is really only one that is the best. It is the one you see in the stores most often. Called Bearss Lime. The Key Mexican Lime is the one that Key Lime Pie is in reality small with lots of seeds. You can order either one but the Bearss one is best.
If you live near the coast there is really no grapfruit that will be really good. They tend to have very think rinds and not enough juicy flesh. Grapefruit need hot wether to ripen right....
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However there are two that will do reasonably well for you. Mellogold and Oroblanco. I think that Mellogold is a bit better.