Dwarf Orchard

Greetings and many apologies for disappearing.  I underestimated how much time going back to school and working full time would take.  I have missed writing and have made a promise and plan to keep Adventures updated.  I have a lot of new and fun things to share.

On the top of my list to share with you all is my latest obsession, a Dwarf Orchard. At least that is what I am calling my problem of buying trees and having no yard to put them in.

The Dwarf Orchard set up

I decided to purchase some shelves to add to my indoor hallway garden. This spot gets sunlight from both the SE facing window you see and another one across the hall from it facing South.  Seemed to me to be the perfect spot.

I am already the proud owner of a  Kaffir lime tree, which is about a year old. I have greatly enjoyed its leaves this summer (a subject of another post) and am looking forward to its bumpy fruit.  So naturally a lemon tree would provide a nice companion right?

Enter a 3 year old Meyer Lemon tree. Ok I may have ever so slightly misjudged the size of the lemon tree. In my minds eye it was totally fitting on those shelves. In reality.... well you can see it gets its own table.  It has some very teeny tiny buds just beginning to form. It takes about 6 months or more to develop from flower to fruit, so I will keep you posted.

3 year old Meyer Lemon Tree

I spent the last weekend in beautiful Temecula California visiting family. Along with Avocados (YUM!) and Wine (post on Wine Country later too) they grow beautiful luscious olives. Is it just me or could you live off a diet of Avocados, Wine and Olives?? Yeah probably just me. I have been wanting an olive tree for as long as I can remember. When I saw a Lucques olive seedling I just had to have it. When things like trees are involved the logistics of luggage just go right out the window. I think my Aunt thought I was a little nuts buying a tree as a souvenir.

1 yr old Lucques olives tree

And simply because I saw one at a college campus conservatory here in Norfolk and I thought it would be cool to have one, a chocolate tree. Sadly, I ordered this tree from Puerto Rico and it apparently kicked and screamed all the way to Virginia and shed EVERY SINGLE leaf... so its really just kind of a Chocolate Stick right now.. I am babying it hoping it will put out more leaves. Fingers crossed

Chocolate "stick" 

Well there you have it, the 4 players so far in my Dwarf Orchard. I'll go into detail more on each on each of them in future posts.