I am joining Jon the Propagator for Six on Saturday, featuring six items of interest from my garden. This Saturday it is my Rangpur Lime tree and Coconut Palms. To see other posts, follow this link – www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com
These are Rangpur Limes, from my neighbor last year. They are not ripe yet in the garden. These are actually a member of the mandarin family, a cross between lemons and mandarin orange, therefore a sour orange. We like to make Mojo marinades for chicken and pies with these.
My neighbor gave me a tree a couple of years ago she grew from seed. It takes about 5 years from seed to fruit, so I should have fruit next year, fingers crossed. As I was pruning the tree it occured to me I had never really seen citrus prior to moving to Florida and having one in the garden, so I took some pictures.
The branches, very thorny! Leather gloves are a must when pruning.
The foliage, shiny green and lime scented. I have read these can be used to infuse flavor like kaffir lime leaves, but have not tried it. Also a host for Giant Swallowtail butterfly larva, citrus farmers hate these butterflies.
The trunk, smooth with striated bark.
And what would limes be without the coconut?
Baby coconuts forming, and mature coconuts on tree below. I don’t like walking past this one in a high wind. Most people remove the seeds when they are smaller to prevent being beaned on the head by a wayward coconut.
That is my Six for this Saturday..
Happy Gardening!!
The Shrub Queen 
I wish I could grow citrus, it’d be wonderful to have fresh fruit straight from the garden. Its bark is very pretty, but oh, those thorns look vicious!
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It is vicious, I had friends in Atlanta who grew lemons and kept them in a sunny basement in the winter…it took forever to get a fruit, still waiting even in Florida!
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Thank you for the baby coconut photo! I never thought about what they looked like forming. I miss the orange tree that hung over my fence in California. It was Northern CA, but even here in Southern Oregon it’s just a little bit too cold for them. I don’t have the windows to bring one in for the winter either.
You mentioned godetia on The Propagator. You might find it called Clarkia and Farewell to Spring, which makes no sense, as mine always blooms as one of the first annuals in spring!
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Hmm, the baby coconuts don’t really look like coconuts? I think I have always lived too far south for Godetia, I am from Atlanta and never heard of any of it, thanks for the info…it is pretty, wish I could grow it.
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It is nice to grow citrus in your garden. I really wish I had put an orange tree in my front yard which faces south.
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I am surprised how far north oranges will grow..a friend makes jam from satsumas grown in Georgia. maybe you should try a tree!
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I’ve never seen a baby coconut before! Or a Rangpur lime for that matter. Thanks for sharing as I’m sitting here in a cold England just willing for a touch of the tropical!
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Glad you enjoyed a bit of the tropics, I wish they would get ripe!
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3 years from seed is quick. I have a little limequat tree that I grew from seed but I don’t know if I will ever get fruit. And how exotic having your own coconuts. I have a date palm which I grew from a Medjool date, it is fun having a palm tree even if it will never bear fruit.
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It’s theoretically 5 years, I have a Cuban Avocado on the same schedule. I should have some fabulous guacamole next year!!
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Rangpur lime is supposedly related to a citron rather than a lemon. I learned it as simply a ‘sour’ or ‘acid’ Mandarin orange, back when I grew them. Strangely, they are somewhat true to type. You would think that a hybrid of questionable parentage would be more variable.
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I am enjoying browsing through your posts many of your plants and trees are native here and grow and fruit profusely 🙂
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Thanks, Carol – I see you are in Thailand, what’s your favorite mango? Amelia
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Yes I am, Amelia…with over 200 varieties of mango its difficult to pick one…but I do love the green skinned Mangifera indica L which we eat unripe with a spicy dip or when it ripens it is lovely and not fibrous like some mangoes…I also have 2 young purple mango trees which won’t fruit for at least another two years but they are beautiful mangos both in colour and taste…Carol 🙂
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Oh, never heard of either, though I would love to know what the spicy dip is for green mangoes?
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Hi Amelia…we either mix sugar, salt and chilli flakes which is quite nice with most fruits or I make a stickyish dip with tamarind, fish sauce, lime, shallots some add shrimp paste and dried shrimp…I plan to put them all together in a blog post over the next few weeks I’ll send a link when I do if you like Carol 🙂
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Sounds good..I would like to try that.Thank you.
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