Sunday, February 14, 2010

Get Them Here

I promised yesterday that I would give you some places to get Citrus trees. So I will.
Some of these places I have received trees from, others I have heard good things about.
The list is not by any means all inclusive, nor is it in any particular order.
With all the quarantines cropping up, it is getting harder to find Citrus trees that can be shipped. Florida is absolutely off limits, USDA Federal Law will not allow trees, cuttings or any other part of the tree to be shipped or transported out of that state. There are other pockets in the country you can not get trees from.
This link will tell you were the quarantines are:
http://www.saveourcitrus.org

After you have seen the quarantine areas, lets start thinking about ordering some.
The first link IS a good friend of mine from Scranton, South Carolina. His name is Stan McKenzie and he has some very nice trees. His website is:
http://mckenzie-farms.com/

Next is kind of a strange place to receive Citrus trees from. They are in Connecticut. Their trees are a little on the small side, but they do grow very nice.
This link will take you directly to the Citrus page. I encourage you to look at their entire site, they have some very nice and very strange selections. I have ordered from them a couple of times:
http://www.logees.com/products.asp?dept=166

I have not actually bought anything from the next one,yet. I have seen their plants and they are very nice. They have a very extensive catalog, Citrus just being a small part of it:
http://www.woodlanders.net/index.cfm/fuseaction/home.home/index.htm

The next is another that I haven't bought from yet, but I drool just looking at their selection. This link will take you directly to their Citrus page.
I have heard good things about them and their trees are suppose to be very nice:
http://www.growquest.com/Fruit%20trees%20-%20better%20plant/citrus_trees.htm

The last site I will recommend is okay. I have ordered from them many times, but I have had a little problem with germination of their Citrus seeds. That's right, this one sells seeds. I have had no problem with most of their other seeds, just the Citrus. It could be me, or the fact that they let them dry out too much, which is a bad thing. Even if you only get one or two to germinate, you are still way ahead of the game compared to already established plants. Of course, you will also have to wait longer for fruit, but that is the price for being cheap.....Like me! At last check, they only had a few listed, keep coming back, they change occasionally.
They are at:
http://www.tradewindsfruitstore.com/servlet/the-Tropical-Fruit-CiE/Categories

Finally, you can always check your local Big Blue or Big Orange box stores. They occasionally have some. Check with your local favorite Garden Center, they may be able to get some for you. And, along the same lines as Tradewinds above, you can get some fruit at the grocery store and plant those seeds. With seeds, you may get some as good as, not quite as good as, or better than the fruit it came from. Just remember, you also have to be patient. Seeds take a long time to fruit, depending on the type, anywhere from 3 years to 10 plus.
Of course, there is always Google. I bet there are nurseries out there I have never heard of. Send me the link if you find a good one! I am always on the lookout for a new source. Also, if you find one and want to know if I know anything about them, ask. I did not list a few here that you really should stay away from, that is for more of a private conversation.
Happy Growing!
Darren
p.s. I could not get the links to become hot, you will have to cut and paste. Sorry!

1 comment:

  1. Hi Darren, thanks for visiting my blog. You mentioned our native finger limes. They're interesting things, but they are the thorniest citrus plants there is, much worse than the Thai makrut lime. A guy who grows them commercially brought a box of various finger lime fruit in for us to taste at the gardening magazine where I work, and the amazing thing was the variety of flavours. Very inconsistent. The best were gorgeous, like citrussy caviar, the worst had a kerosene aftertaste.
    I've added your blog to my 'Bloglines' list, so I'll enjoy keeping track with your experiences with my favourite fruit trees.

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