Stan and I took a little trip to Aiken to visit Woodlanders and were given a tour of Aiken, mainly to see the Citrus that had been planted there - mostly by Bob McCartney. It was an great day, weather wise and for the plants we got to see. Late that afternoon, we went to Columbia to see some citrus a friend has planted there, and to see the famous Croxton Grapefruit. I am going to stick a link to the pictures taken here, I am not sure if this will work but it's worth a shot. If it doesn't work, I'll try to fix it later.

I might mention that the Changsha we saw was one of the best we have tasted, even though it was a bit over the hill.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/plantfolks/album?.dir=/faa3&.src=ph&.tok=phHziGEBI.APst5H

Note the Christmas tree lights on the Columbia citrus. They are for warmth as much as decoration.

If any of you guys get a chance to look at the photos in Ned's link... Pay particular attention to picture 014.. This was one of the biggest mansions I'd ever seen! Ive been to Beverly Hills, California and Palm Beach, Florida but this house would have to fit right in among them. It was at this house that I picked the Tawanica lemon from a tree that Bob McCartney has planted right in the front yard! Bob, ( the owner of Woodlanders) took Ned and I to this residence and just walked right out on the front lawn and started pointing out rare trees and shrubs that Woodlanders has introduced to the US! Bob is on a first name basis with the Mexican caretaker so we really had a guided tour once he discovered that Bob had brought some "citruholics" to the grounds! BTW The Tawanica lemon pie recipe I posted on the "citrus recipes" section of this forum came from the (Whitehouse) in the picture!

Sounds like a nice day. I enjoy day trips like your Aiken/Columbia trip. As I met Ned, Stan and Bob at the expo, it seemed like the pictures were of friends going on a field day. In looking at the picture of the Thomasville Citrangequat, I noticed that even when fully mature the tree still maintains a growth pattern in a very upright manner (tall and narrow). How old would you say the Thomasville was? Thanks Ned for the pictures. - Millet

Ned,

Thank you for posting the wonderful pictures.

I am amazed by all the happy citrus trees. I have never seen an outdoor citrus here in North Texas, but Dallas is at the same USDA hardiness. Both Dallas and Columbia are on the dividing line between 7b and 8a.

I checked out the daily temperatures for Dallas and Columbia during the winter of 2004-2005. The 'low' temps are about the same. The only difference I noted was 'lowest high'. Dallas dropped to 32 or below for at least 48 hours. Columbia never dropped below 32 for more than 12 hours.

Do you think this 'continuous hours below freezing' idea accounts for the lack of outdoor citrus in Dallas?

One of the posts suggests noting the Christmas lights. I wasn't able to find any. Which picture has them?

Thanks!

zzzzz

"Croxton Grapefruit"
What is this?

And was the good tasting 'Changsha' that was mentioned located in Columbia?

Also, it is rare for Columbia to have a daily high below 32. Many years go by without this happening.

What does the Calamandarin taste like?

Tolumnia and Bananas, First, the Croxton grapefruit is a large grapefruit that is growing in Columbia SC. It is as large as anything I've ever seen in Florida and it was covered with nice, grocery store quality fruit. The flesh is pink and the tree was a seedling tree planted by retired college professor , Mr Croxton, thus the name. I first heard rumors that this tree existed at the first Southeastern Citrus Expo held at Riverbanks Zoo there in Columbia. It took a few years to track its location and owner down but the time and effort were well worth the wait. The tree is a site to behold and gives most of us 8a citrus growers something to strive for!
The calamandarin is some type mandarin crossed with calamondin. The fruits are small tangerine size and sour. I would imagine they would be great for using in cooking where you would use lemon or lime juice but they are'nt something you would want to eat out of hand if you are looking for sweet citrus. The calamandarin tree was pretty impressive too. It is growing at a school in Aiken SC and is probably a good 12-15 ft tall. Hope this info answers the questions you guys had.

I didn't realize how many unanswered questions there were here until Stan weighed in! Maybe I can hit on a few.

Millet, on the Thomasville in Aiken. I am not sure how old it is, but I would guess easily more than 10 years. It is a seedling and this would account for the upright growth habit. I would expect a tree grafted from mature wood to be more spreading. Here is and old Thomasville near Savannah, GA. This tree is thought to have been planted in the mid 50's and is know to have survived 3 degrees f.



zzzz About the Christmas lights. If you look closely at photo 034 in the link given in my first post (and the others) you will see that some of the fruit is blue. I don't believe the two trees pictured have any fruit. It was late in the day, and the light was getting kinda weak, and I think that affected picture quality.

Regarding our freezes here in mid to lower SC. It typically goes below freezing in early morning, and is coldest around 7 pm, warming quickly after the sun rises, often getting above freezing before 10 or 11 am. That said there are exceptions where it stays cold for longer periods but, since the late 80's, the weather patterns have been tending towards warmer, with few periods where it stayed below freezing for more than a few hours. Columbia (and Scranton, where Stan lives) are colder than here on the coast (where Lazz and I live) but the patterns are similar.

Finally, the good Changsha was in Aiken. I am not certain if it was exceptional or we were just hungry, but we thought enough of it to get some budwood, so we shall find out. Together Stan and I have a least a half dozen different Changsha clones we are trying. We have taste several that were very good (except for being seedy) and we are determine to get our hands on one.

Ned

Ned or Stan, I noticed the picture of the Procimquat. Joe and I have a few small Procimquat seedling trees, growing from seeds that JoeNcolo and I got at the 2005 citrus expo. What is the largest Procimquat tree that either of you have ever seen? Ned thanks for showing the grafted Thomasville picture. It certainly is a beautiful tree. - Millet

"It typically goes below freezing in early morning, and is coldest around 7 pm, warming quickly after the sun rises, often getting above freezing before 10 or 11 am."

This is because our more typical freezing is from radiant cooling into space at night (rather than simply deeply-subfreezing air being pushed in from the north) so that skies are usually clear here in coldest weather, and additionally the air must be still. Thus it also typically warms quickly in morning. (It is not unusual to see a few school kids here in shorts on days when the morning low was in the high 20s.)

I am in central SC. I'd like to track down that grapefruit and see it this summer.

Thanks for the info!

Regarding the procimequat. As well as I can remember, the procimequat at Aiken is about 4'. The one I got my start from is near Savannah at the Bamboo Farm and Coastal Gardens. It is about the same height and has always looked ragged to me. It may have been dead the last time I was there. I don't think they tolerate a lot of cold, and the BF&CG gets a good bit colder that we do here in Port Royal. Additionally, that plant is right out in the open where there is little protection. I believe one I have seen at the Florida Citrus Arboretum was a large shrub - maybe 8-10' tall but I am not sure. Maybe Stan remembers.

I am sure you know this - procimequats are unique in that they will bloom and bear fruit the first year from seed. Millet, I am sure yours will bear a few fruit this year.

Ned

As to the posting about the Croxton Grapefruit. You said you tracked it down and had/has nice size grapefruit on it. Has anybody gotten any seeds from it? Does Mr. Croxton have a way to be contacted to see if we could get some seeds from it? I would like to try it here in 8b.
Thanks!
Darren

Mr. Croxton is elderly and did not seem to be in good health when we was last there. We normally arrange to visit him through a mutual friend. Because of his health, we have to decided it is best to maintain his privacy for now. Stan has a few of the GF budded but they are not ready for sale at this date. I may bud some myself later.

Because a number of us know of other GF that seem to defy the elements, I tend to suspect that this may be something besides individual hardiness. There are a number of possible reasons or, more likely, a combination of reasons for this apparent hardiness: Genetics, microclimates, chilling effect, etc..

Ned