Thursday, August 5, 2010

Lemon Tree

That's right I said Lemon Tree, we now have a bona fide, certified, genuine Meyer Lemon tree in our kitchen. I have been dying for a Lemon Tree forever. I know that sounds like a weird thing to long for, but I can pin point the exact moment I started my love affair with lemon trees. It was grade 7 and the movie Clueless had just come out, and Alicia Silverstone's character was making tea and reached out of the window and grabbed a lemon right off the tree growing beneath.

Now, since we live in Canada a real, grow in your backyard, planted in the ground Lemon Tree was pretty much out of the question, so on the back burner it went, until last weekend, when the little yellow thought came screaming back into my brain, during a quick trip to the garden center to buy orchid fertilizer. There they were, Meyer Lemon Topiary's. Lee saw the excitement in my face and quickly snatched up the little green fella while I went to find an associate to answer some questions (tip: use the garden center employee's, some of them are fountains of plant knowledge). Turns out our kitchen is the perfect spot for Larry (that's our lemon tree's name, Larry the Lemon Tree) anyways. . . . . we have a west facing window with lots of light, and because it's near the sink and dishwasher (although far enough away from the DW that the heat won't reach it) made it the perfect location.

Here's what you need to know if you want a lemon tree too:
They need a good deal of light (think west or south facing)

They like it outside in the summer but take them in at night.
They like to eat orchid food (it must be fate because we went in there looking for orchid fertilizer)

They like it humid, so misting and a pebble tray are necessities.
If you keep your Lemon Tree indoors all year round, you'll have to pollinate it yourself using a small painters brush or you can do what we are planning on doing,  placing Larry on the deck during the day and the bee's will do the work for you!

What more could I ask for, he purifies the air, provides us with  food, and looks amazing, if he were a man Lee would be in a run for his money! haha (just kidding Lee does all that. . . . .  minus the air purification)

9 comments:

  1. I had one for years, and the lemons were great! They love Canadian summers outside! They do tend to get spider mites though, so watch for that.

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  2. I would love to have one. Not sure I have enough sunlight inside for one but I may give it a try. Thanks for these tips. Here's to hoping you can pull a lemon soon!

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  3. I will definitely keep an eye out for spider mites (I hate spider mites and aphids for that matter) Thanks for the tip

    I'll let you know as soon as I make my first cup of tea with a lemon from my tree (I didn't intend for that to rhyme :)

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  4. How cool! My husband has always wanted a lemon tree and his birthday is coming up. We figured a lemon tree was out of the question too but we're further south than you (although still far away from the equator! lol). Thanks for the tips! "Hi Larry!"

    R

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  5. I wish you the best of luck with your tree and hope you will have lots of lemons:)

    Blessings,
    Linda

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  6. Okay, I tried to leave a comment before, but it didn't work...hope it does this time! What a well written and engaging post! I loved reading about your lemon tree--hope you get gallons of lemonade out of it! Thanks so much for linking up to Style Feature Saturday! -shaunna :)

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  7. http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=95f5f364-464c-42d7-8b2a-1bf4d12379aa

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  8. Thanks for the link, Maybe this year we could plant a lemon tree on the south side of our house!!
    THanks again for the link! I would love to see if that would work where we live :) I think the lower mainland is warmer then Victoria :)

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  9. Hi Ashli,
    I was wondering did you ever get any lemons?

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