For those of you who weren't here from her beginning, Leona is my potted dwarf Meyer lemon tree, named after my beloved mother-in-law, whose maiden name was Leona Meyer. No, I do not name all of my plants. This one is special, as she's my third lemon tree. The first two were planted, in the ground, in Arizona, and didn't survive our summers away from them. This one will be kept potted, and travel back and forth with us.
May 14, 2010: Our new baby, Leona, is 4-inches tall when she arrives by mail.
July 5, 2010: At 52 days of age, Leona had grown to 11-inches, but was showing signs of stress. Time for a dose of fertilizer!
July 18, 2010: Leona is showing her first flower buds at two months of age, and has grown another inch, to 12-inches tall.
July 31, 2010: The fertilizer has done its work well. Just a few days later, she is 14-1/2 inches tall and sporting sweet smelling blossoms. However, they failed to pollinate. That's probably a good thing, given her small size.
September 12, 2010: In just a few days, Leona will be four months old. She has grown a whopping 17 inches in that time, and is now 21-inches tall! She is determined to have three main stems at this time, and who am I to argue with her? I think she's beautiful.
Leona is growing very well Granny! It doen't seem like it has been four months since you got her.
ReplyDeleteShe is beautiful. I wish I had a lemon tree but I've got no good southern window to put it in. I do have a sliding door with south east exposure, but it is right near the heating vent. I would imagine that would roast it if I bought one. I still might some year.
ReplyDeleteRobin, the past four months have gone by very fast. At my age, that's not good ;-)
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Daphne, I don't have a south window either. I do, but it has a covered porch, so no sunlight comes through at all. I'm not worried as long as we take her south, but if the place down there sells, she'll have to live in the laundry room under a grow light in the winter.
I'm sure the winter in AZ will really do her some good, too! She looks great!
ReplyDeleteErin, hopefully the winter will do all of us girls good. I'm not going to plant a garden, just a couple of pots of lettuce for the rabbit, so Annie and I are going to walk. She's so overweight, she limps a lot now and it just breaks my heart. I can't give her less food, she's living on lean chicken and green beans and vitamins now, so all I can try to do is increase her activity. Yes, her thyroid has been checked and shows normal. My poor, sweet little baby is only 2-1/2 years old, and acts like an old woman. :-(
ReplyDeletePoor puppy, Granny. Walking will do her some good, I know. The lemon plant is beautiful. Before you know it you'll have lemons to rival Thomas'.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize she was so young! You two gals will be sporting svelte tanned bodies in no time with all that walking!
ReplyDeleteRibbit, I hope you're right....about Annie and about the lemons!
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Erin, I'd like svelte and tanned, but if Annie were any tanner.....well, she's already black, I don't think she can get any tanner!
We have a meyer lemon and meyer lime. The lime is doing great, but the lemon plant is growing so slowly. What type of fertilizer do you use?
ReplyDeleteGood to see that Leona is still coming along fine. And good luck with the fat dog. Can't you get one of those walking machines?
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine had a seriously overweight dog, and I seem to recall it had hip issues as a result. He took it out every day for an hour and made it walk pretty quickly, even if it seemed to not enjoy it. After a few months you couldn't recognise the dog, and it seemed so much better mobility wise. The hip problems just disappeared.
We all thought the dog was about ten years old, but it turned out to be around half that.
Leona looks like she is thriving wonderfully. How big does that type of lemon grow? I just love lemons.
ReplyDeleteI love it, a traveling lemon tree.:) So sorry to hear about Annie, hopefully she will heal up while in Arizona...poor thing.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like the third time is a charm for your and your lemon trees. Grow Leona grow!!
ReplyDeleteMeemsnyc, I just used the generic 10-10-10 that I use in the garden at planting time. Just a tiny bit, maybe 2 tsp. I'll buy her some real citrus tree fertilizer when I get to AZ. According to the sources I've read, she needs to be fertilized three times a year. Also, about once a month, I give her a good drenching with half strength fish emulsion, and when it was real hot out, I spritzed her leaves with water two-three times a day.
ReplyDeleteTIG, I just gave one of those walking machines away last year. I got tired of having to skirt around it to get to the bed. Now I wish I had it back! I do think walking will help her, if I can manage it myself ;-)
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Lorie, I have no idea! Being a dwarf, and able to live its life in a pot, I'd think not too large. I plan on putting her in a larger pot one of these days, but she'd better not get too large to bring in during the winter. I suppose selective pruning would keep her under control. Thomas, at http://www.agrowingtradition.com/ has one and he gets lots of lemons from his. I can't imagine mine being strong enough to hold one lemon, let alone 10-12!
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Mr. H., Annie isn't in any pain, just seems to suffer from stiffness of a joint in one leg. I've been giving her Glucosamine with Chondroitin daily, but it doesn't seem to make any difference. She's done this before, and usually about two weeks of dosing her clears it up. Not so this time.
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Kelly, I refuse to be held responsible for the deaths of the other two. I paid a neighbor to water through the summer, and they were thriving when I left them in the spring. They were dead sticks when I returned in the fall. After two years of losing plants, I fired the neighbor and bought a timer, bubblers and drip tubing. Haven't lost a plant since (knock on wood).
We've got a dwarf meyer lemon tree and just LOVE it! We planted it in a oak half barrel and it is thriving in our yard. Tons of lemons, grows like a weed. Wish the rest of my garden did as well! Good luck with Leona!
ReplyDeletezentmrs, I wish I could leave Leona out all year, but we are in eastern WA, and she wouldn't last through the winter. I've noticed the sun isn't reaching her on the patio now, and she's handling the low light just fine, so she might do alright in front of our living room window when she comes inside. It's south facing, but has a covered porch. It looks like it gets more light than she's getting on the covered patio, though.
ReplyDeleteNow you got me thinking I should try another one. I did a lemon and a lime...they both died :(
ReplyDeleteLeona is lovely!
Apple Pie Gal, it remains to be seen if she stays lovely once she comes inside. I've never met a house plant I couldn't kill. I did purchase a moisture meter, though. I always over water my plants, so this has been a great help to me. I'd have over watered her for sure without it.
ReplyDeleteWell whatdaya know! A water meter! I would have never thought such a thing! I always wondered if those little Aqua Globe thingees were a good buy too. I too kill ALL house plants. Why is that? We can grow a garden, but not a house plant!!
ReplyDeleteApple Pie Gal, you can see the meter in the third picture. They're only about $5, I got mine at Lowe's.
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