thanks Gary . we r always on the lookout for sources that r reasonably priced and have lots of varieties like our friends down south get .

I received some citrus last month from u guys n they are all doing well .please check if u can procure some Italian lemons starting with Santa Teresa.

I see some in the list that I want . will wait for the coming season . I presume that's around Apr-May ?

Hi devsense, Yes. We usually get the Citrus in mid to late April or the start of May. We are importing them from the US so the USD certainly affects price. We try to keep it reasonable under the circumstances but prices have certainly climbed a bit this last year. Fingers crossed for the health of the Canadian dollar. And if you find sources of cool citrus let me know. We import all the time from around the world so if there are suppliers of say Italian lemons that will export we could conceivably bring them in. Are these Italian lemons the ones used for Limoncello? Cheers, Gary

Thanks , FourWind carry's a few of the Italian Lemon varieties(incl Santa Teresa) and pretty sure other California growers would have it too sourced from UCRiversides CCPprogram . And yes thats a commonly used Lemon var for Limoncello .

Last time I went to Italy i wasnt Citrus crazy :) , next holiday there forsure will be on the lookout for a Nursery which would ship n do the paperwork .

I am happy to hear this, I had never heard of Phoenix Perennials. It is Soooooo hard to find citrus in Canada and I know many others who would love to purchase

Had to edit and add--- if Canada post doesn't strike

another edit--phoenix perennials--I certainly hope you seriously think of adding most of these citrus to your mail order list. It is amazing how many avid growers prefer ordering online. I for one, would rather research my varieties, fine a reputable online supplier, and order. Far easier than running from place to place looking for the variety I want. And, I usually find myself adding a few extras to the "cart" just because it is impossible to just buy one.

Hi ubro, Great to hear we could be filling a need in Canada for Citrus! We have a few aficionados at my nursery including myself and my mail order manager, Larry. We call the Citrus section "Larry's Citrus Central". Please spread the word about our offerings. Our citrus are great quality and very healthy. As for the official mail order list, we will certainly try to get most or all listed online for 2017. It is sometimes just a question of time to create the entries and upload them to our shopping cart, but we can ship any of them. Just make sure to ask if we have any more that are not listed. ;-) Cheers, Gary

Hobby , Brain , Ubro , other Canadians - I found a citrus mailorder nursery in Italy that ships to Canada and provides Phyto sent the info to Gary , hopefully Phoenix n the Italian nursery can work it out .

They have Cedro , Amlafi Sfusato , Zagara Bianca , Siracusano and many other Italian Lemon varieties generally not found in the California or Florida bud banks .

Thanks do you speak italian????LOL how did you ever manage to find that place? OH NO I feel a need to make my citrus room larger.

Oh Dev....I wish they would contact Harris or FW...I'm jealous!!

Hey, I want some Italian citrus!!!!

Thank you so much Dev!!! You have started my week off right. I don't even know what those are but I guarantee I have to have them lol!

Just got back from a business trip, looks like I have a lot of catching up to do :).

Great work dev!!

Ubro - nah i dont :), i can understand some since I speak french . Found them on ebay europe. Looks pretty well reviewed and in my mail exchanges with them they did bring up all the right questions about customs .

Hobby - u r welcome , I really hope Phoenix can work it out with them and the cost esp shipping makes sense to resell . Also therez the paperwork , going by AIRS even for Canada there's some .

Laura - u can be jealous once we actually manage to get these plants into Canada :) Down South since you guys have commercial growers I guess it would be far more difficult to ship from outside.

Herez an article on Italian Lemon varieties

Dev great fishing well done . No use for me though I have been given the riot act about purchasing more tree's doesn't stop me from making cuttings though lol . If you go to ebay Canada and type up citrus tree's a UK seller I believe pop up that was a while ago anyways .

Brian

lol , I have been read the riot act plenty of times , either i say ohh this was always there u never noticed (with the most innocent look that I can manage ) , or for bigger items tag it against a anniv or bday gift or worst case brace the fallout .

But with those giant specimens and large collection that u already have , more is certainly a tough sell

Sounds familiar dev! lol

Hello Citrus Aficionados, On the Italian lemon front we have confirmed 3g Santa Theresa lemons for spring from the US. Now we are trying to get smaller ones that would be more easily shippable. Not sure this will work out for 2017 but we are trying. We have shipped 3g plants before within BC but it is more costly. Working hard on your behalf, Gary, Larry, Sam and the Phoenicians

Thanks Gary!! Well you know 2 of at least here would be your first takers on those. Did you know a lot of suppliers ship greyhound bus? That would probably be cheaper and the trees probably get banged around less so that could be an option.

I would go for a 3g... you sent my oroblanco as a 3g and while a branch broke off it is doing great and I think the broken branch cutting is taking too!

I would be fine to give you a deposit to save one for me if that works at all? Plus let's not forget all the free advertising myself and Dev have given you here lol. wink wink nudge nudge. Preferential treatment is always welcome.

thanks Gary . I would take one 3g as well but we need to figure out the shipping. maybe wash away some of the soil n fit it in 1g pot or bag . FW used to ship their premiums bareroot so we ought to be good with partial bare root.

Lol Dev you must be still young and able to give Those Puppy Eyes . Trust me when you get old the Old Hound Dog eyes just don't work trust me .

Brian

Hi Gary,

I'm in Toronto and just received four citrus plants in 1g pots from B.C. via Greyhound Express Shipping. One is yellowed and a few leaves have fallen off but I'm sure it will bounce right back with some light. The other three look good for being in a box for a week. Shipping one 3g shouldn't be too expensive with Greyhound (< $60 to Toronto)...

I would also order and give a deposit for a 3g Santa Theresa! Great to see a new supplier!

Stefan

Stefan- didn't know greyhound express shipping was available at such a long distance. that's certainly good news.

Hello Citrus Aficionados, We are excited to report that we have launched our 2017 selection of 36 different citrus and 3 cold tolerant avocado through a pre-order process that is now open at: www.phoenixperennials.com. Scroll down and look for the link with the 'Owari' satsumas. Plants will be available for pick-up at our nursery in Richmond, BC in May. Or we can ship anywhere in Canada through Canada Post at that time. Please read our note to mail order customers in the pre-order info. We'd also love if you could help us get the word out to other Canadian citrus fans. Yours in Citrus, Gary

Phoenix Perennials, you are going to make some Canadians very happy with that citrus selection. Especially with the Santa Teresa and Genoa Lemon varieties. :)

Dev and Hobby, are you out there?? Lol

Hi Jinny I am most definitely here! Thank god for Gary I have already ordered!! Whoohoo I got a Genoa, a Santa Theresa, the seedless kumquat, the New Zealand lemonade of course and the sweet lemon. So excited that was most of my 2017 list right there.

Now who is going to keep Laura company next season when ordering is really in full swing? Lol

Hobby, you are on it, lady! Lol. Great choices! :)

I better im dev so he doesn't miss out.

Good idea! I'm sure he'll be thrilled.

Thanks hobby n Jemma for thinking about me . am certainly excited n can't wait for the spring to arrive :)

will order a chinoto, Palestine , ST , Pomona . earlier list had Rangpur lime as well, let me check with Gary if that will become available later .

You guys crack me up! Now Hobby, you know I've been lusting after that Genoa lemon...it is on the top of my list! I would also like a meiwa...need to figure out when...

Weren't we just saying that we were getting itchy Laura??? lol. Well can you believe it is already Dec and soon will be winter solstice and the days will be starting to get longer?? In summer I always curse the fact that June is summer solstice but I guess the flip side is that Dec is an encouraging time to start thinking of spring lol. And thus new trees!

I'm actually encouraged by how much room I still have in my grown room.... that could be trouble!

I just IMed stefan... maybe I will drop Brian a note too....

Oh and I forgot, I also got the delfino blood orange!

Oh man, this is too, too tempting. I desperately want the Improved Meyer lemon to grow but my experience with growing citrus inside has been disappointing. I finally tossed my Meyer after a second winter inside saw it covered in spider mite again after I sprayed & sprayed. By spring it was almost entirely without leaves and instead of putting it out on the deck for the summer; I tossed it :(

The first year with my Meyer, I got tons of fragrant bloom & 36-40 fruit. I absolutely loved it but it was a nightmare to keep healthy. I will probably order another(Phoenix) but all the advice I got here for citrus care didn't work. Scared to try again.

Are there any fool-proof reliable citrus to grow that I won't need to replace every 2 years? I don't have a greenhouse, I live in southern Ontario, Canada so must bring plants inside for the winter. Phoenix' list of available citrus is making me dizzy...:)

Hi Millymoo, I'm sure there are lots of people on here with more experience than me with overwintering citrus indoors. Out here in the Canadian Riviera we grow most of our citrus outside! (Partially joking - 'Owari' satsumas, yuzu, sudachi, citrumello, and 'Nagami' kumquats grow outside in protected situations but the rest need to be indoors.) Overall a few things to consider:

1. Spray with End All before bringing inside and completely coat the plant - stems, tops of leaves and undersides of leaves. End All is insecticidal soap with pyrethrins, a natural insecticide. Repeat on a regular cycle. You can take your plants to the shower, shower them with water, and then repeat with End All on all surfaces

2. There can be a shock of bringing the citrus inside into a big temperature differential as compared with the outside. Sometimes it might be better to bring it inside a little earlier so there is less difference between the outdoor and indoor temperatures. If you wait until nighttime temps are getting really low and then bring the citrus inside to room temperature, this can be a shock.

3. Keep you citrus as cool and in as bright a spot as possible. Maybe you have a bright room you can keep cooler for the winter.

4. Spider mites can only reproduce at low humidity. The average Canadian house in winter can have humidity lower than the Saraha Desert. Place your citrus on a saucer of wet stones and keep a mist bottle nearby to mist your plants a few times a day. One year I even set up a humidifier under some mite-prone plants for the whole winter. It helped a lot.

5. You also have to watch for scale insects that the ants might farm in the summer months. Squishing them and using End All in the summer (not before it rains) will help avoid scale problems in the winter. I hope that helps.

Cheers, Gary from Phoenix Perennials

Millimoo, many of us here live up north and bring our trees for winter. If you are watchful and spray preemptively before bringing your trees inside and continue with misting and a light neem oil solution, you should not have to toss any tree.

Thanks, Laura & Gary for your helpful comments. I'm not a newbie gardener but was new to citrus when I brought the Meyer lemon tree home with me a few years ago(3?)

I researched here on Gardenweb and followed all suggestions for gradually acclimatizing my lemon tree to the house in autumn. Sprayed repeatedly with insecticidal soap then it spent a week in unheated sunporch before coming into the house. gave it good light, high humidity(humidifier set up next to lemon) and cooler temps. It's first winter it performed really well(close to 40 fruit) and flowered steadily. By spring it had developed spider mite and I sprayed with neem oil +rosemary oil regularly & thoroughly. It recovered well & spent the summer on the deck flowering & producing only a few more fruit before I brought it in for autumn. Autumn/winter it defoliated and developed spider mite very badly. I sprayed & sprayed & it didn't really recover. By the time I put it out on the deck, it was a stick in a pot. End of summer, I tossed it as it didn't seem to leaf out anymore. It was free, grown at the nursery where I worked at the time. Strangely, no one I worked with who got these citrus trees from this greenhouse had one last longer than a season. I was considered a citrus champion since I got more than a year out of it!

Honestly, I felt like I did all I could for the tree and it still performed poorly. I suppose I could've put it in the basement(cool) under a grow light to try to keep it going but I don't have the patience for that anymore. I want to have it where I can see it & enjoy it daily. I value citrus for it's incredibly beautiful fragrance & yummy fruit so I will attempt it again but don't expect much. I believe these are really best-suited to grow outdoors and I'm envious of those of you who have successfully wintered them over in the house.

You're so lucky, Gary, that you can grow some citrus outside! I will likely order from you in the spring!

Milly...don't give up hope! Here's a pic of a few of mine. The big Meyer I've had 4-5 years (don't remember exactly when I got it), and it was about 3 when I got it. He even spent those first years in potting soil+perlite (gasp!!!). This year I moved him to the 5-1-1 mix and he continues to thrive. He's been inside now since the latter part of Oct and although he's lost a few leaves, is growing out many more.

Hobby, remember that blood orange I passed up recently??? Well...I went back ;-)

Wow Laura it's gigantic!! I would have snatched that up too, I am totally with you! What type again was it? I passed on that key lime I was eyeing up, mainly because I am hoping I can work on more cuttings this summer and get them for free! Still dying for my first actual key lime... I would take a limequat in its place but those are even further off.

How is your thornless key lime doing? Mine is continuing to grow like crazy in my room but still no fruit will set even though it flowers profusely.

Oh and Milly, Laura is right about everything. I'm afraid there is no "easy" indoor citrus to overwinter currently. But when was anything worth doing super easy?? Maybe try a calamondin or a kumquat first as they are slightly less finicky than a meyer?

Thanks Hobby, I knew you would understand ;-). I am not sure which variety it is - either Moro or Sanguinelli is what they said. It is a lovely tree and I just needed to have it...lol! My thornless key lime is the one that I had to disinfect recently from white flies. I find its growth habit a bit aggravating because it has sprouted at the top instead out out. I will show you pics when I get home. It has some blooms, but is not blooming profusely by any means. It has one tiny lemon set as of now, but I wonder if it will fall off. My thorny key lime has not bloomed yet though. Limequats...that's another matter. I've made two key lime pies from the fruit and was just noticing that I should pick more to lessen the load from the tree. I recently hacked a couple of lanky limbs from my PITA ST and am trying to root them. I've yet to have success with cutting, so I am not holding my breath. Should I cover them with plastic? I hope your cuttings work out! Can you post pics?

Laura, your citrus are so beautiful & healthy looking!

Wow, that's a lot of lights! Wow, you guys are a wealth of information!! I will not give up Laura but I have to have a Meyer again.

To me the Meyer flower fragrance is heavenly but the fruit flavor is so distinctly 'Christmasy' . I want to be able to make Limoncello with my own lemons. I can't wait! I will follow suggestions here on correct soil, moisture & light conditions and cross my fingers, it'll pull through the winter!

Hobby, I do realize nothing worth having comes easily but sometimes you have to decide how much time & effort you want to devote to a plant. I'm older now & find I'm less patient with poor-performers in the garden or in the house. I don't grow roses that develop black spot anymore nor do I hold on to geraniums, poinsettias & amaryllis to try to get a second bloom out of them. :) Realistically, I work full-time, have pets, husband & hobbies that are more important to me at this stage of my life.

If my Meyer lemon cacks on me, so be it, I'll replace it with another one. BUT, I will first try to nurture their growth in tried & true ways discussed on this forum.

Sorry for the rant. I realize you are all earnest citrus enthusiasts and I do respect that

:)

I am just re-reading this thread. If Phoenix Perrenials is ordering from an Italian supplier maybe you can get the Mandared. I have been looking for that a while but it doesn't seem to be in the US yet.

Cory

Thank you Milly! I love my Meyer trees and would recommend trying again. We will certainly try to help you. When they are in bloom in my house I can smell the blossoms from my front door. It is lovely!

Cory - Phoenix is currently procuring from US , I think they reached out to the Italian supplier but havent heard back from Gary what was the outcome , whether they can ship plants from there .

Hi Cory and Devsense, In 2017 we're doubling our selection of Citrus to 36 different varieties all from US and Canadian sources. So that will be enough for this year. We are also following up with other sources in the US to expand our selection going forward. We will likely explore the Italian sources in the near future but importing from Europe, though we do it frequently for other types of plants, is much more involved. So we'll focus on our continent first and then go further afield. Cheers, Gary

Gary - we certainly are glad that you guys doubled the variety of citrus available esp the NZL and ST lemons , but as u can see we are a bunch of voracious citrus enthusiasts always on the lookout for different selections not readily available here .

Looking forward to an even broader selection in the near future and hopefully someday u can parallel FourWind and Harris's combined catalog :)

Dev

That's great news, Gary! I'm so glad you guys decided to take the plunge and offer Canadian customers a huge selection of citrus. It is very much appreciated. I'm sure lots of Canucks, like me, are thrilled to finally be able to acquire a NZL! (Among others) =)

I'll keep a close eye on your catalogue from now on. Maybe someday we could even get dwarf edible bananas other than Cavendish and... dwarf date palms? =D? One can always dream!

Hey jemmalix, What about a dwarf papaya. We'll have 'T. R. Hovey' in 2017. And did you try Passiflora edulis 'Possum Purple' yet? We'll have both on our mail order site when we launch the new list in the new year. ;-) Cheers, Gary

Interesting! I'll check out the passiflora for sure. Lychee trees could also be interesting one of these days. Who knows? =p Alright alright, now I'm being greedy! Thank you again for the fantastic selection, Gary. Cheers to you.