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Citrus trifoliata - Hardy Orange from Quackin Grass Nursery

Citrus trifoliata (form. Poncirus trifoliata; ex: Jeff Fengler) – The Hardy Orange is a fascinating shrub with evergreen wood in army green with huge perpendicular spines for weaponry! Small white flowers borne in early to mid-spring are imbued with orange blossom fragrance. Small trifoliate leaves are glossy green and often turn yellow, sometimes with some orange and red in the mix in autumn – just beautiful against the green branches. Small green oranges mature to a tawny tan-orange shade persistent for much of the winter. The tough tangle of barbed branches was at one time used by the army as a barrier hedge, weaponry indeed. It can only be imagined that if some were crazy enough to fight their way through it, once on base, bloody and bruised, the trespasser would have been immediately conscripted! In a more fanciful vision it is easy to see that this might be the shrub surrounding Sleeping Beauty as she lay in death-like repose. My first experience with this interesting shrub was in a bay of a building at the NYBG in mid-February adjacent to a curved path with a clipped hedge of Jasminum nudiflorum, also with evergreen stems and in glorious bloom with innumerable sunny yellow flowers among the clipped stems. The huge pill-shaped Hardy Orange was alive with tawny oranges dancing among the branches in the wind. This image is indelibly imprinted in my mind. Jeff Fengler collected oranges from extra-hardy plants growing in Rocky Hill, Connecticut and delivered them to us. Esatblished potted Hardy Orange, seed grown.