tel: 512-280-1192 Friday, April 20, 2012
Nursery Notes: Happy Earth Day Weekend. The nursery is full
of beautiful plants right now! New shipments in of caladiums,
pineapple guava, knock-out and home run roses. 3 kinds of
papayas to choose from! Exotic elephant ears, and 1 gal. car-
damon (cinnamon ginger). / Also 3 gallon citrus trees for $49.99 -
grapefruit, meyer lemons, calamondins, satsuma mandarin
oranges. 1 gallon meyer lemon trees - $19.99. (see below for
Chris's article on citrus). Live Music at the Nursery Saturday
Night! Talented local rockers Easy Hill will perform in the audi-
torium at 8 p.m. BYOB. (free Greenhouses will be open for late
evening shopping.)
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Earth Day Special Lecture this Sunday: George Altgelt from
Geo Growers has been a featured guest on KLRU"s Central Texas
Gardener, and is a recognised expert on all matters relating to soil.
His subject on Sunday? Realizing the Principles of Food
Safety and Self-Reliance within the Texas Home Gardening
Tradition’ 2 p.m. Free [Coming next Sun: Susan Wittig Albert,
author of the bestselling China Bayles mysteries.2 p.m.]
Mayfield Park, Laguna Gloria: Perfect for a Spring Afternoon:
These two public gardens, sitting right next to each other on West
35th Street, are both looking so beautiful at the moment. Woodlands
to get lost in, peacocks, rose gardens, statues... even an artsy mini-
golf course: Well worth a visit! - D.M.
www.mayfieldpark.org Laguna Gloria
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Natural Garden Pesticides: an interesting post from the folks at
Apartment Therapy about how to make insecticidal soap and garlic
chili spray with everyday ingredients: natural persticides
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Central Texas Gardener (KLRU-TV): Susan Orlean, staff writer
for The New Yorker and author of The Orchid Thief, delves into the
fascinating world of orchids. On tour, visit Monica Gaylord’s orchid
Citrus in Central Texas
by Chris Winslow
Have you ever thought about picking oranges from your own tree?
Or having the fragrance of a lemon grove wafting in through your
bedroom window?
Although we are a little far north for commercial citrus, I have
found that central Texas home gardeners can quite easily enjoy
themselves growing lemons, limes, grapefruits, and oranges from
seed. The trick is to sow the seed while it’s moist and fresh.
First of all, visit your grocery store and buy a fruit which appeals to
you. You can then store the seeds in the fridge keeping them moist.
I often place them in a coffee cup with a moist paper towel in it, and
accumulate seeds over time. I then take them to the nursery and
place them in seedling cell trays, filled with a soil-less germinating
media of peat moss and perlite or vermiculite.
After covering the seed lightly, you should water them in with a fan
sprayer and place in a sunny, warm location. The first seedlings will
germinate in about 20 days and will continue to do so for a month
or two. I then transplant them to 4” pots when they get 4 to 5” tall,
using a good container or potting soil like Metro or Scott’s. I have
been growing key limes from seed this way for years.
Citrus grown from seed can take up to five years to flower…so be
patient. If you want fruit faster, the best way is to buy grafted citrus.
Grafted trees bloom in their first year.
Some of the most popular ones are calamondin and meyers lemon.
Calamondin is a cross between a tangerine and a kumquat. These
slightly sour fruits are used to make a lemonade-like drink that’s
popular in the Philippines. Meyer’s lemon – large and sweet - is
a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange.
Citrus is best grown in a container because our winters get a little
too cold. Citrus is threatened when the temperature drops below the
mid twenties. If you are going to plant them in the ground, look for
a protected location on the southside of the house preferably close
to a rock wall. Northern exposure is pretty rough on them.
Some gardeners protect their citrus by covering them during the
coldest nights. A customer on Capistrano in Shady Hollow has built
a two wheeled cart and he rolls his citrus in the garage when the
temperature drops down into the twenties.
Happy Gardening Everyone!
Visit the website: www.itsaboutthyme.com 