Week of November 8, 2020

The Florida Garden continues with some color on a few remaining shrubs and coleus plants, but emerging are some yellow and orange hues from the RIPENING CITRUS trees.  Most have a month or two of ripening before they are ready to eat. An exception is the Key limes,  some of which are fully yellow and plump on both my potted tree and one growing along the driveway.  I need about 25 fruit for a pie so I pick them as they ripen and store them up in the refrigerator.  It looks like we will have no fruit this year on the Persian  lime, blood orange, Ponkan tangerine, and Valencia orange tree (newly planted last year).  However, the Hamlin navel orange has its first fruit ever after six years of patience.  We will also have small crops of the honey turcott and Satsuma tangerines, likely due to heavy crops last year.  However, there are adequate fruit on the tangelo, kumquat, and two grapefruit trees.  This fall,  we have two new citrus planted:  A finger lime tree and a second type of kumquat.  As the New Year approaches, it is a real joy to have these citrus fruits  fresh in the Florida garden for marmalade, cooking,  juice, or just eating fresh off the tree.