Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Lemon Trees

Did anyone happen to notice the foliage in the background of my faux sourdough pictures?
That, my friends, is a lemon tree.  We have two of them.  They are the only houseplants I haven't killed off.  In fact, they've survived my care for more than four years, now. 

During the colder months, they live inside as houseplants, one on each side of the dining room window.
Once the danger of frost has passed, we move them out onto our deck, where they thrive during the summer months.  Other than moving them in and out, the only other care we give them is semi-regular watering and the occasional splash of plant fertilizer.  Easy-peasy.
Why yes, those really are lemons growing on my lemon tree.  Meyer lemons, in fact, and they taste sooo much better than the ones from the store.  Have you ever had a fresh lemon?  They are wonderful.
 And yes, those really are blossoms on my lemon tree.
I may have to say that I enjoy the blossoms even more than the lemons.  Words can't do their fresh, spicy fragrance justice.  I'm always so pleased when my lemon trees bloom indoors, because the scent is absolutely heavenly, and works better than any air freshener on the market.

Despite their size, our lemon trees are pretty prolific.  They each bloom about 3 times a year, and produce quite a few lemons.  We don't have lemons available year round, since both trees tend to have lemons on them at the same time.
Those lemons are quite a conversation starter.  Our guests are usually equally astonished and delighted that we have lemon trees.

We got the idea from my parents, who, over the course of many years, have had several varieties of citrus trees in their home.  We ordered the starts for our trees through a seed catalog called Wayside Gardens.  (If you do an online search, you can find many options for ordering your own citrus trees.)  They arrived in two very small boxes, just single sticks with a few feeble blooms.  We stuck those sticks in pots, and within a month or two, there were actual lemons growing on them!  It still blows my mind. 

I'm really excited that, due to all the ripening lemons on the trees right now, it looks like I'll have plenty of homegrown lemons to use with my Thanksgiving dishes!

3 comments:

  1. My in-laws have huge lemon tree/bushes that they cover every winter & I am lucky enough to be the recipient of those DELICIOUS bits of sunshine a few times a year. We have a lemon cake recipe we use that is so so good with "real" lemons. Let me know if you want it & I'll send it over!

    By the way, I wandered here from Cjane's blog. It's nice to meet you!

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  2. I want a lemon tree! You better be telling the truth about them being easy (I've killed 3 house plants in the last 6 months and I'm feeling like a plant loser) And, what news are you referring to about Brad and Maren? I LIVE in CT, for heavens sake, and I'm such a hermit I don't hear anything! I like homeschool in so many ways, but I don't like what I have let it do to my social life....hmmmm.....

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