Dale Citrus

 

I was only recently told of this orange tree in downtown Dale.  I never before noticed it.  I've driven past thousands of times.  It is on the south side of a house but it looks like the house provides minimal protection.  I estimate around 30 years old and no evidence of freeze damage. Then, after taking the photo, I noticed another younger tree about 1/2 mile north of Dale.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/XStCynBbg56xFMsQ6

The photos in the above album are zoomable for more detail.  The photo in this post is not.

I haven't talked to the owner of the rather spectacular orange tree pictured.  I will eventually.  Likely, he knows nothing of the variety.  I would like to learn if that tree was planted before or after our 1980s freezes.

A few weeks ago, my doctor was putting demands on me to get prescription renewals that I found excessive.  I drove to The Valley and bought the needed drugs on the other side of the border.  But, that is another story.  I stopped in a citrus nursery near Edinburg, where no English was spoken, and bought three poorly labeled citrus plants.  I'm near certain that the varieties are good for The Valley and not likely for central Texas.  I could be wrong since much Valley citrus was wiped out by a freeze in the 1980s and they might be tending toward some frost tolerance.  There are a few well known varieties that will go down around 25 deg.  Meyer lemon and Satsuma tangerine are examples.  Generally those varieties do not make good, market acceptable, fruit.  I've planted citrus here in the past that has failed to survive.   The area south of New Orleans is a semi-local area where citrus is successfully commercially grown; though The Valley is larger and better known.  I'll plant at least one of the new plants; that'll likely be my last citrus attempt.  Right now, the plants are being protected in a neighbor's greenhouse. 

A new report on downtown Dale orange tree.  The guy's name is "Brite", a common name in Dale.  He has lived in the house about 20 years and the trees (there are two growing together) started when his daughters spit out orange seeds in the area.  Not intentionally planted.  So, the variety is unknown and not likely the same as the originating fruit.  Like other fruit trees, citrus is grafted to give predictable fruit.  He said the foliage was often frozen off the the wood survived.  That is, leaves always sprouted from the old wood.  He gave me three fruit; the first one sampled was very good, very much like commercial fruit.

2/27/2021

I added a photo of the downtown Dale orange tree after our "big freeze".  Temperature down to 5-10 deg and below freezing for more than 140 continuous hours.  At this point, the tree doesn't look too bad.  All brown, of course.  It may well have been killed to the ground.  Only time will tell.