The Twenty Dollar Orange

Back in the spring I headed out early one Saturday morning on a mission to be one of the first customers to buy a new variety of citrus tree named "Orange Frost" specifically developed for our South Texas climate.  The advance word as recommended by our local Extension Service was that not only will the plant survive our wild weather range swings, but the fruit is seedless and sweet.  So I put on my comfy shoes and headed out with my plant sale wagon.

The tree I brought home had a number of small fruits and all but two eventually dropped off.  The two remaining oranges grew and ripened until last week when I picked them a few days apart.

Gardening on the Rocks: Planting 'Orange Frost' Citrus

Recently I waded into the fray at the Master Gardeners plant sale to snag a newly introduced citrus plant named "Orange Frost".  Here it is in its new home in my back yard behind the garage.

Orange Frost Frenzy!

What plant are these folks converging on?  What's so special it needed to be roped off?  Are these people in danger?

   
Actually, it's the newly available 'Orange Frost' citrus tree.  Certain to be a hit here in San Antonio because it is cold hardy, self pollinating, seedless, and bears sweet fruit.  Other hardy citrus plants are too tangy or slightly bitter and often full of seeds, so this is a huge breakthrough.   It's not scheduled to hit garden centers for two more years, but these were available this week only at the Texas State Master Gardener's plant sale associated with their annual conference held this year in San Antonio.

This is the Orange Frost tree I selected and it already has fruit set so we may get fruit this year.

See those cute little fruits!

I also picked up this Euphorbia 'Rudolph', a cold hardy variety with foliage that turns red in cool weather, and Euphorbia Breathless 'Blush' with a rosy tint to the foliage and flowers.  These euphorbias have been available for a while, but I had not seen them locally.

This SmokeTree which has been on my list for a while

For those who have not seen one, here's a Smoke Tree in bloom on this website.

I also brought home dahlberg daisy for the cactus patch, a sun coleus for my container garden, and a copper plant.  A good find was the John Fanick's Phlox in the center.  A plant with a nice local connection, it was discovered growing here in San Antonio and named for a local nurseryman.

A fun item from the vendor's market were these Texas shaped native plant markers.  Darla Horner Menking, a master gardener from Killeen, came up with this idea and had them manufactured.   She's now making the rounds to sell at garden shows.  At only a $1.25 each, I couldn't resist picking up a few for my favorite Texas native plants.

Darla doesn't have a website yet, but you can contact her at Suebizcreations@yahoo.com.

Plant sales are always fun for me and this was even more so since I was able to pick up a few plants from my list and also see some new varieties.  I will report back on the Orange Frost fruit when they mature.