Meet Sunny, My Wintertime Companion

Jan here, and I am so excited!

Look at this:

That is a lemon! A real lemon! Growing on my lemon tree!

I started seeing these lemon trees in my garden catalogs several years ago, but wasn't sure I could take care of a citrus tree. Our move north in 2011 clinched the deal - sub-zero temperatures and a semi-arid climate are NOT an ideal climate for citrus fruit!!!

Then in 2017, my daughter and son-in-law gave me a gift card to our local garden center. As I browsed through the hundreds of plants, I narrowed down my choices to a house plant. Something unique. Something fun.

When I turned a corner and saw the citrus trees, I knew I had found what I was looking for. I had a reasonable expectation that if the local garden center was selling these trees, then it might be possible for me to keep it alive.

This baby needs more tender loving care than any plant I've ever owned. Its care isn't hard, just constant.

It needs a LOT of sunlight - eight to twelve hours a day! So I adjusted things in the dining room to give it the prime spot in the south window during our short winter days. I even put the pot on a wheeled coaster so I could move it from the south window to the west window to grab another hour or so light in the afternoons.

It also needs warmth - 65° or warmer. Hmmm. We keep our thermostat set low during the day, and lower at night. I adjusted the temperature up a degree or two (much to my husband's delight!)

Another thing it needs is special fertilizer. I bought a kit from this website: My Citrus Tree, and am now convinced that the right fertilizer makes all the difference!

The final thing it needs is humidity. Like I said before, we live in a semi-arid climate. Our relative humidity is often in the single digits during the winter, and rarely gets above 60% in the summer. Great for humans, not so good for citrus trees. So I bought a spray bottle to mist the tree every day, and I water it (just a little bit) three times a week to keep the soil moist.


But keeping track of those little details is worth it. My goal when I got this little tree was to keep it alive. :-) In the spring I transplanted it to a larger pot, and it has doubled in size. When the first blossoms appeared, I was transported by their lovely scent.

The newest blossom, just opening this weekend.

I did have a scare at the beginning of last winter - the poor thing lost all of its leaves! But a visit to the website gave me some ideas, and I was able to nurse it back to health.

It loved the summer days out on our deck. And the hotter the weather, the better! I did have to remember to bring it into the house each evening, since our nights almost always dip into the 60's, even in the hottest part of the summer.

As blossom followed blossom, I watched eagerly for fruit to appear. Several did...but then died before reaching the size of a dime. I went back to the website to learn how to be a honeybee, and armed with a cotton swab, did the deed. Several times. And was rewarded with one lemon that has survived and grown!

And now I'm waiting patiently for the lemon to turn completely yellow!

I decided a plant like this deserves a name. So I chose "Sunny." Why? Because it is a constant source of sunshine, even on the darkest winter day!

What do you think? Would you try growing a citrus tree?

Jan Drexler lives in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her husband and growing family. When she isn't writing, she loves hiking in the Hills or satisfying her cross stitch addiction.

You can find Jan on Facebook, Jan Drexler, author, or her website, Jan Drexler.com.