http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/weather/myfoxgarden/in-your-national-garden-hardy-orange-110209#



In Your National Garden: Hardy Orange
Poncirus trifoliata: ‘Flying Dragon’

Updated: Monday, 02 Nov 2009, 6:30 PM EST
Published : Monday, 02 Nov 2009, 5:43 PM EST
By UNITED STATES BOTANIC GARDEN STAFF/USBG

Every week, we’re featuring a plant or flower growing at the United States Botanic Garden. Hardy Orange ‘Flying Dragon’ (Poncirus trifoliata ‘Flying Dragon’), which is found in the U.S. Botanic Garden’s Bartholdi Park, provides fragrance and lots of visual interest in the outdoor garden, where it will live happily to -10 degrees.

Its contorted branches have viciously sharp, 2-inch spines, which are especially striking after its leaves drop in the fall, making it a real conversation piece in winter.

As a tree, Hardy Orange reaches 15 to 20 feet tall, but plant them close together and prune to 3 feet or so, and you have an impenetrable and beautiful barrier hedge.

In spring, 2-inch, shiny green leaves are joined by white, lightly citrus-smelling flowers, which are followed by fruits. In midsummer, they’re green and golf-ball sized, but by fall, the leafless tree sports oranges, which fall to the ground and spread their seeds.

Edible but sour, these oranges are very fragrant. Put them with your linens or anything that you’d like to take on the heavenly citrus scent.

Light preference – Sun, light shade
Soil preference – Average
Moisture preference – Drought tolerant once established
Bloom time – spring blooms, fall fruit
Spread – 6 to 15 feet
Height – 8 to 24 feet
USDA Hardiness Zone – zones 5-7

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Edible by what? {laughing}