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Bloom Where You’re Planted

January 3rd, 2013

Remember those tiny citrus trees I got when I went to Monticello way back in 2010? Last fall the little lime tree bloomed like crazy, but none of the blooms set fruit. That’s not really uncommon for the first bloom of a fruit tree. Now it’s blooming again.
lemon trees blooming 3
There are only a handful of blooms and it’s inside in our office. I also noticed the other day that the variegated lemon is blooming as well. It resides in our bedroom window.
lemon trees blooming 1
lemon trees blooming 2
The smell of these blooms is way too much for me, so I’ll be moving the tree out into the landing for a while. It probably won’t set fruit, but I’m excited because these beautiful trees are finally reaching maturity. I’m fairly certain that next fall/winter I will have finally see fruit!

Do you have any houseplants that produce fruit/food?

11 Comments to “Bloom Where You’re Planted”
  1. Amy C. on January 3, 2013 at 7:29 am

    Very cool! It’s amazing that strong of a smell comes out of those little blooms.

    Reply to Amy C.'s comment

  2. Maybelline on January 3, 2013 at 8:41 am

    Have you tried being a bee for those blossoms? That might help your fruit set. Try using a Q-tip and flit from one bloom to another to mix up the pollen. I love the scent; but have never known what it’s like to have one indoors.

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  3. KimH on January 3, 2013 at 9:48 am

    Yum.. they are beautiful! Yay! I’d love to have some indoors but I dont. I dont really have space for them if I did. I’d have to get rid of an awful lot of the current plants I have.. which I should do anyways. ;)

    A friend is coming home from Fla today & I told him to find me a minature lemon tree for a house plant but when he called to find out what it was I wanted, I told him never mind.. knowing him, he’d bring back a giant lemon tree.. the biggest form of all.. haha..

    Enjoy those citrus!

    Reply to KimH's comment

  4. Misti on January 3, 2013 at 10:05 am

    Our citrus, growing in the ground, are starting to bud as well. We had a nice variegated lemon in Florida but we decided not to get another one despite our variegated obsession.

    Driving up and down I-95 (and other roads in FL) during this time of year is glorious to me, the smell of the citrus groves is delicious! Mmmm, I miss that smell! We’re growing a key lime, meyers lemon and an orange tree. Our only ‘houseplant’ fruit right now is a miracle fruit that can’t handle the cold weather so it comes in on cold nights, which is often right now.

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  5. whit on January 3, 2013 at 10:27 am

    We don’t have much space for house plants right now, so i keep my meyer lemon, orange, lime, and olive in the greenhouse with kitten britches. Every day when i check on her food, the glorious scent of citrus hits the old schnozz. Unfortunately, it has been extremely cold here and i noticed last night that some of the new growth had suffered frost damage. I wonder how much of that is due to warming up into the 50’s in the daytime and plummeting into the low 20’s at night?

    I hope you get a few fruits this year!

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  6. amy on January 3, 2013 at 1:38 pm

    I have a huge bay leaf tree. I bought it when it was about 5 inches tall close to 15 years ago. It is now about 8 to 9 feet tall. All these years in the spring I plant it and then in the fall dig it up and bring it in. This year our conservatory will be finished here and I have a special large concrete container my husband has made for it and there it will stay. I use bay leaves alot and it is wonderful to go and get them off my own tree. It is a tree that can be plagued by scale but I keep my eye on it and it has definitely been worth it! I want to try the Meyers lemon tree…but have been waiting for this room to be finished. Yours is lovely.

    Reply to amy's comment

  7. Bonnie Fowler on January 3, 2013 at 3:07 pm

    I have a meyer lemon, a naval orange, a banana, coffee plant. None have set bloom yet. the first winter I kept them in the front room which was too cold, even though it gets the best sun. They dropped most of their leaves, then last year the heat went out and they dropped most of their leaves. This year I was able to keep them warm enough even though the heat went out monday morning. So far they look good.

    Reply to Bonnie Fowler's comment

  8. NRG on January 4, 2013 at 1:28 am

    +1 for playing bee with q-tip phallus.

    Reply to NRG's comment

  9. Val on January 4, 2013 at 1:08 pm

    Just for winter, I have a curry leaf plant (a sapling really) that I am desperately trying to keep going until next spring when it can get some size on it. I also have a makrut lime inside, and a bay leaf tree in the shed, though I think it could probably survive zone 7 outdoors. I’m keeping my lemongrass going inside as well, and I’ve toyed with growing ginger but failed. Would love to have a citrus one day!

    Reply to Val's comment

  10. Nancy on January 4, 2013 at 1:32 pm

    I’ve had a small Meyer lemon for a few years. It stays outside once the low temperature stays above 30-ish with nice sunny days.

    I use a bird feather to pollinate the flowers during the winter, like now. Sometimes it works. I’ve been getting around 5 lemons per year, mostly from the blooms in late summer.

    Reply to Nancy's comment

  11. Monica on January 12, 2013 at 5:29 pm

    I had a beautiful but small meyers lemon that i loved, and nurtured and lo and behold all the wonderful blossoms set fruit. I watched it grow, nurtured more and couldn’t wait until december to harvest my lemons and make a pie….one Sunday morning I went to walk my garden with my cup of coffee and turned the corner to see my sweet tree….every single one of the almost mature fruit was gone…..GONE!!! no evidence… no rinds…no pieces…,no partial….no nothing!!!!!!!

    I am still at a loss as to what critter might have gotten my fruit!! We even set up my husbands night vision deer camera for the next few nights, but what ever got them… never showed up again!

    The good news is the tree is fine and we will certainly be on guard next year for the lemon thief!!

    Reply to Monica's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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