Hardy Citrus 'Changsha x English Large'

This is a cold-hardy citrus hybrid bred to carry oranges into gardens too cold for ordinary citrus, a cross between the trifoliate orange, Poncirus trifoliata, in the large-flowered form called 'English Large', and the notably hardy Changsha mandarin, Citrus reticulata. Both parents are prized for cold tolerance, and stacking the two produces a small, thorny tree that shrugs off freezes that would kill a true orange. The cross matches the well-known US-852 citrandarin, a hardy-citrus line from the USDA breeding program.

The result is a small, thorny tree, semi-evergreen in mild winters and briefly deciduous in hard ones, carrying fragrant white spring flowers and small orange fruits. The chief value here is toughness rather than dessert quality, since the fruit runs small and seedy, a curiosity and an ornament more than a fresh-eating orange. Where the appeal lies is in growing recognizable citrus, in flower and in fruit, far outside the citrus belt.

Woodlanders has been a leader in cold-hardy citrus for decades, and this Poncirus and Changsha hybrid fits squarely in that tradition, hardy to somewhere near zero degrees and reliable through zone 7. The trifoliate orange parent lends both the cold hardiness and the fierce thorns, which make the tree a formidable barrier or security hedge as well as a conversation piece. Fragrant in spring and studded with little oranges in fall, this is citrus for the adventurous northern gardener.

Give the hybrid full sun and well-drained soil, and expect steady growth into a small, well-armed tree. Use the plant as a cold-hardy citrus novelty for the edible-landscape enthusiast, a thorny living fence, or a collector's piece with a real breeding pedigree behind it. For a gardener who has always wanted to grow an orange where oranges are not supposed to grow, few plants are as satisfying.

Photo used is straight Changsha, we do not yet have a photo of this hybrid.