During the many years I’ve been reading about and making gardens, I’ve encountered tantalising ideas from different climates that have inspired dreams. An orangery – a greenhouse or glasshouse to protect and grow oranges during winter in a cool climate – is one of those. Other exotic plants can also benefit from this overwintering.
I grew up in what gardening publications classify as a temperate climate (Sydney) although that is becoming more extreme as the planet warms. The concept of having to protect citrus trees from the winter weather seemed a quaint custom in countries such as England and France. Even now that I’ve moved to a cool climate, an orangery still seems unnecessary.
Sadly, I had to leave my mandarin and blood orange trees behind when I moved because the pots were simply too large to bring with everything else I had to relocate. They grew happily in large pots and provided me with plenty of juicy fruit.
I now have a healthy blood orange tree in a large pot and it is fruiting for the first time. I’m celebrating as my fruit are slowly changing colour, even though there are only three of them on the plant. That’s two more than last year!
I’ve tried several locations for this plant and, by fruiting, it shows me it is finally happy. Now to purchase a mandarin tree…