Our Meyer lemon was not deterred by such cold and is totally going for broke with sweet smelling blossoms this winter. I have no idea why it's decided to bloom so profusely at this time of year, and I've done nothing to encourage it. The blossoms are even making it through the cold without covering!
Because it's winter, there are no pollinators, so I've become the Pollinator. I've been using a paint brush to dabble at all the open flowers and transfer pollen between them. I have no idea if this is even necessary with citrus, but what the hell. I love me some big juicy Meyer lemons and would love to have a nice crop this year. Of course, there's always the chance that these will get nabbed by some nasty freeze before the cold season is up, but I'm holding out hope!
4 comments:
Cool planter for your variegated agave. I bet that'll look great with the acanthus.
My lemons and other citrus always bloom at this time of the year. Do watch out for the cold nights though because last year the flowers on my lemon froze, even when covered, and I had no lemons on that one tree. I also go around pollinating but I have a feeling that they can self pollinate.
Merry Christmas
Glad I'm not the only one with an insane Meyer lemon, mine was setting buds on in early December and now it's in full bloom!?!? Not that I'm arguing mind, as it smells incredible, just curious what spurred it to bloom at the beginning of winter. Even my Citron is blooming for some reason. I do have one question for you though, living here in Austin we do get a couple freezes every now and again, how do you protect your lemon without bringing it indoors?
In past years, we have been covering the citrus when a freeze comes our way, but this year, I've been a little less responsible. I'm afraid I may lose some fruit, but we'll see. I've seen very large orange trees here in Austin planted in the ground. I think if they are relatively protected, they can survive the freeze. Whether or not they'll make fruit is another story, it seems (see Lancashire Rose's comment above). But even after the heavy freezes last year, I have seen trees filled with huge oranges.
If we are going to get a really cold long freeze, I may cover them, but I'm hoping that not babying them might make them stronger (I've heard that works too).
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