Hey guys,

I'm wondering why Owari on Trifoliate is the gold standard of cold hardy sweet citrus? With all the Wase (early) satsumas now available, including Miho and Seto, why are they offered so infrequently? Since Owari ripens in November-December, a September-November ripening citrus should beat the frosts enough to be a bulls-eye cultivar. Do they break bud too early, or is it just a matter of being newer cultivars?

Availability of the early varieties is probably somewhat dependent on where you live. But if you look hard enough, you should be able to find plenty of options.

I know that in Florida, Xie Shan budwood has only been available for a few years, so it is not likely to be widely available. Although some forum members have been able to order it from Harris Citrus in FL (and they are approved to ship out of FL now).

Stan McKenzie may have Armstrong Early, I purchased a tree from him ~3 years ago.

In Louisiana, LA Early and Early St. Ann should be relatively easy to find.

You can currently find St. Ann and Armstrong Early on Amazon via a middleman. I also believe there is another nursery in LA that might be willing to ship Early St. Ann, but the name escapes me at the moment.

Miho and Seto Satsumas may be available for shipping from RGV Nursery via the website citrustreesonline.com, but I do not have any experience w/ them.

I thought the early varieties did not taste as good as the later ones in the location of central Alabama where I am located. I'm sure they are ok and Xie Shan is the best of all. I also thought they do better in Alabama than in Florida . Maybe because of our cooler nights and not quite so hot days of fall.

Rightly or wrongly, Owari is the standard that others are judged by and Owari is hard to beat. Tom

I have them all & all are very good.