Four weeks later

"This is to let you know that due to cold weather your order has been delayed. If you would like to authorize upgraded shipping to allow us to ship when temps are as low as 26 degrees, please give me a call at the number below. Thanks for your interest in Four Winds Citrus."

I read this love letter and peak outside the window - there is still a four foot mound of snow that the bobcat created in the process of expressing blacktop roads for me to speed in. While its going to be a longer than desirable wait, this has been an endeavor educating oneself in the business of circumventing nature.

The citrus, by definition was meant to be sun loving. As a general rule, sour fruits need less heat to ripen than sweet-fruited varieties. So, I picked the Improved Meyer Lemon immediately. It is expected to put out those fragrant, purple blossoms in spring and again in the fall.

Then I learnt that the growers in desert conditions enjoyed success with Trovita. It is known to be a widely adaptable thin skinned orange, which develops excellent flavor without the heat required by other varieties.

Time is that special thing that keeps everything from happenning all at once and I've plenty of it for the snow to melt while I work on expanding this list.

Green thoughts at zero F

Clearly, being in Madison WI isn't restricting my imagination. I've borne citrus for in my dreams for sixteen weeks, in research for sixteen days and now in a wad of sixteen ten dollars bills.

Nature intended these evergreen leaves, fragrant blooms and tropical flavors for USDA 9-11 zones, or temparatures above 30F. But man would resign to that; or should I say one eager one must have these in Zone 4. Well, it turns out that many wise men thought of this decades before I did.

In 1946, a curious soon-to-be nurseryman named Floyd Dillon decided there was a need for a California version of the dwarf apple and pear. He chose citrus as the ideal candidate. As he later wrote in 1959: "What better specifications could be written for the ideal patio plant than to take everything offered by the standard commercial citrus and dwarf it to patio size, capable of being grown in a box or tub, raised bed or border, either espaliered or in its natural form?"

"If the virtues of citrus could be had in an eight-foot tree, capable of producing fruit two years after planting, if numerous cultivars and novelties were available, if all cultivars could be uniform in size -- then we would have the ideal patio tree."

After several years of experimentation, Floyd founded Four Winds Growers. For my part, I transmitted my digits through their secure online ordering system and am eagerly awaiting a UPS drop off with my healthy 2-3 year citrus.