The Dancy Tangerine

The Dancy Tangerine rind is deep reddish-orange, thin and easily removed. The juice is rich and sweet. Dancy's have a moderate amount of seeds. Dancy Tangerines are available from mid December through January although mine doesn't have any fruit on it this year.  I purchased this plant back in August and put it in a pot.  It looks like every other citrus plant....evergreen and upright.

It's one of the few citrus that look good in pots as it is a smaller tree/bush.  So just like the kumquat, I put it in a pot....for now.  This is a great fruit that can be picked off the tree during this time of year....easily peeled and if you pick it in the morning here in Tucson, it makes a nice cold breakfast treat.  I've always loved this fruit because it's so easy to peel.  My friend has one in her neighbor's yard:) The problem is that there is a wall to get to it!  We carpool together and the first thing I do this time of year is head over to her wall and try and pick the fruit from the other side.  You may be thinking that this act is theft....well depends at how you look at it. The neighbors are always different renters who never pick the fruit off the tree even though they say they will. After a year of this and watching that beautiful fruit go to waste, we made a pact to make sure every delicious tangerine would be appreciated.  The renters haven't noticed at all, but there is a sad part to this story....because renters have come and gone, the tree is in decline and is not looking so well. My friend is currently watering the plant from her side so that it won't die.  The fruit is THAT good! So I finally purchased this fruit tree for El Presidio gardens.  It will eventually go into the ground and I highly recommend this plant. As for the freeze in the garden the past several nights....well the good news is that the citrus plants have survived!  That includes the Meyer's Lemon and Bearr's Lime!  I was worried about the both of them,  but everyone is doing well.  The cactus took a hit around the place, but that is easily fixed and not as costly as the citrus.

Currently on the property, we have a blood orange, tangelo, lemon, lime, kumquat, grapefruit, and calamondin.  A what? Calamondin?  Yeah I don't know either...it's just a pretty variegated variety that has interesting fruit.  I tried one and spit it out....nasty. I'm not sure what they're good for but I'll find out.  In Spring, because the courtyard is closed off, the citrus blooms are trapped inside and make this place smell incredible! Talk about making your neighbor's smile(unless they have allergies:)Then the fruit begins to grow:) Citrus are fairly easy to grow in Tucson....you just need to watch the hard freezes while the plants are young. They are great plants because they are green all year and add a lot of different elements in the garden.  Pros. Green plant.  Smell.  Fruit.  Catepillar food for the swallowtail butterfly increasing butterfly populations. Shade. And low on the water budget depending on your location.  Cons.  If you don't pick the fruit off the tree, it will drop and make a mess.  Also some citrus have thorns on their branches so be careful.  Until next time, happy gardening!

Backbreaking Work!

The 922 Side

Today was a great day to be outdoors. I hate holes and digging them. There are always the inevitable issues that go along with them....the caliche is there, there is concrete below, electric wire, rock, roots, toys from 1975, and the list goes on and on. It's a great way to take out your frustration but it sucks. It's not fun and I usually have to separate my days for each project because I start becoming impatient at how slow digging a hole can be. I started this morning and figured out where the mulberry tree would go. I planted the orange tree and followed up with the palms. The palms....

On the property there is one large California palm...it's big and beautiful but it's the only one. The rule in gardening is that you go with 3's....why that number I don't know, but it works. So I purchased 3 Mexican palms which have a skinnier trunk....but in the process of planting them, I tore my big toe and hurt my foot as it slipped on the shovel. Like I said, digging holes suck, but I am in a better spot than yesterday when I didn't know where to put my mulberry tree. 60 dollars and I couldn't get the damn hole deep enough to put the tree....the solution was to move it to another bright and sunny spot and it worked. However spaces on the property are becoming few and I have to be very careful with my selections. I have so many favorites I would like to put on the property....the chocolate mimosa or the catalpa, or the chinese pistache, or the loquat.....the list goes on and on....so adding a palm doesn't take a lot of room. Back to the "rule of 3".

I planted 3 palms in the different areas of the courtyard to balance and tie the other palm into the courtyard. They are fast growers so it should be interesting to see the results. I left several spaces untouched as I have very specific plants for those areas. Needless to say, I took a break after killing my feet with the shovel and tripping over a metal something or other sticking out of the ground....

At the end of the day, you sit back and wonder......in 10 years what will this all look like? What will survive and what won't? That's all for now:)