Garden Fridays: Citrus Pre-Season

in Garden

Rio Star Grapefruit

Citrus season, it’s just around the corner! Here in Texas, you can already see the first influx of grapefruits from the Rio Grande Valley… and the fruit on our back patio have the first signs of blush.

This is the first year our young Rio Star has put out grapefruit. Margaritas are imminent.

The Key Lime tree is bursting at the seams. Key Lime Pie and margaritas are imminent.

And the dwarf Meyer Lemon tree is even more top heavy than the grapefruit. Margaritas. They are imminent.

Meyer Lemons and Key Limes

We’re on round two of fruit from the potted fig tree and the serrano plant…

I’ve ignored it. Neglected it. Ignored it some more. I’ve candied jars full of serranos, I’ve made jars of the world’s hottest and nearly inedible pepper jelly. And the peppers you see there will make batch #3 of crushed red pepper. And when that’s done, I’m pruning the pepper plant as far back as possible.

Figs and Serrano Peppers

The rest of the garden is pretty quiet. The heat pretty much destroyed my entire box of strawberry plants. The red bell pepper plant continues to churn out peppers, and fingers crossed, we’ll get another round of tomatoes from the San Marzano plant for pizza & marinara sauce before the weather turns cold.

13 comments… add one
  • I can’t wait for citrus! I love grapefruit.
    I wish I had a garden like yours. I live in Maine..it wouldn’t work out as well!

  • I love citrus fruit. I’d love to have a key lime tree. They’re amazing, but so hard to find.

  • Angie R.

    We have about 7 lemons on our first-ever citrus tree, and one has now turned more yellow than green – we are excited! Although, we can’t decide what we want to do with that first lemon. I do have a question for you. At what point do you decide to bring in your citrus trees, and where do you keep them during the cold months? (Well, I should say “cooler” months for us Texas residents.) We are not sure how we’re going to do that.

    • We only cart them into the garage on nights where it’s going to hit/drop below freezing. And as soon as it warms up, out they come! Piece of advice – watering them immediately before moving them is a terrible idea. Wet soil is heaaaaaaavy.

    • Rebecca

      Whoops, I should have replied instead of commenting. I’m in Colorado and we pull our lemon and lime trees in as late as possible but before the first couple of frosty nights (September). They live in the dinning room, it has a bit of a greenhouse feel with south facing skylight windows and floor to ceiling windows so they get tons of sun throughout the day. The lemon tree slows down a little bit, but she keeps blooming and fruiting year round.

  • So inspired by your garden…and margarita combinations.

  • Anna

    If your garden ever threatens to take over your house and you need to share your bounty…there are some nearby Houstonians stuck in a townhouse with no yard who would be glad to help you out! 🙂

  • I am in awe of your gardening abilities. I hope I can work myself up to your level!

    • I almost called this post “Hey! Look what I managed not to kill!” 🙂

  • karen

    How do you candy your peppers?
    TX grapefruits are THE best!! I may ask my inlaws ship me a box. Will have to see which is cheaper..shipping costs or the price gouge at the grocery store.

  • Debra

    Jealous

  • Rebecca

    Angie, I’m in Colorado and we bring our lemon and lime in as late as possible but before the first few frosts set in (typically in September). The lemon slows down a tiny bit, but she keeps blooming and fruiting all year round.

    Shawnda, I don’t know if you have any ideas, but we have a Mexican lime tree that we’ve owned about two or three years now, we had three limes the first summer but not a thing since then. He keeps shooting out leaves and branches and we’ve trimmed him back a couple times (re-potted once from the original store container), but not a blossom to be seen. Any helpful hints? He gets the same nutrient goodies that the lemon tree gets, but it doesn’t seem to do anything fruit wise.

  • Rebecca

    p.s. I’m sooo jealous of your grapefruit!!!! We only get really good ones for a week or two at the beginning of the season, the rest are rather blah. I wish we could grow our own.

Leave a Comment