almost all citrus will suffer greatly at temps sub 32 degrees F without protection.

I have learned that the term "hardy" really should be taken with a grain of salt because we see the word and think "oh it should make it all winter" but in reality it really means for a short period, hours or maybe a day or so.

trifoliate orange is pretty hardy but the fruit is really only good for cooking or marmalade

best bet is to just grow in containers and protect them in winter, or plant in the ground and build a hoophouse over the trees to protect them that way.

"trifoliate orange is pretty hardy but the fruit is really only good for cooking or marmalade"

Do you have any taste buds left?

Here is a link that might be useful: mrtexas

haha

ive never tried it just read thats about all its good for.

I have a recipe for making marmalade out of trifoliate oranges....it calls for 100 pounds of sugar, a gallon or two of water, and ONE orange.

The secret to getting anything usable out of your Trifoliate Orange is to wait until you see fruit on the ground and then pick all that you can off the tree and place them in the bottom drawer of your fridge, wait at least a month, then carefully peel them with a vegetable peeler being careful not to scrape the second layer under the peel - that's were the awful resin is. Use the peels to make marmalade along with the squeezed juice. You'll need to add orange juice or water since these guys have little juice. The seeds have a lot of pectin so include them in the initial boil. Boil the heck out of everything. Add sugar to taste. Boil again. Expect it to have an odd metallic tang, different than normal marmalade.

"Any recent news for a citrus hardy to Zone7?"

I will let you know in a year. I have just planted a Citrumello and have another plus a Citrange to plant. I don't care if the fruit taste like metallic whatevers. I do not even like grapefruit anyway.

They are for ornamental purposes. Should any survive and bear fruit, the local paper will be on my doorstep wanting to do a story.

There is a small grove of very large Trifoliate Oranges at the National Arboretum here. I believe everyone when they say the fruit is inedible. But they are very nice looking shrubs.

Experiment. And get your real citrus fruits at the market.

Definitely try citrumello if all you want is fragrant flowers. It's very hardy. I have several up here in zone 7A - Wash DC area. They can be semi-evergreen depending on the amount of shelter they get from winds.

dave-- Did you get them from Chilly Palms?

Look up "Benton," "Rusk," and "Morton" citranges as well as the citrumelo ("Dunstan grapefruit," "NC grapefruit").

I've been growing Owari Satsuma mandarins for a couple of years in the North Georgia mountains. My lowest temp each year has been about 10F, with a sprinkling of nights in the lower teens.

The Satsumas are protected with a small greenhouse over winter though. They have not been damaged yet.

I bought a Thomasville Citrangequat and planted it this Spring. This is supposed to be one of the best tasting cold hardy citrus.

"Thomasville Citrangequat is supposed to be one of the best tasting cold hardy citrus."

It is also the worst tasting of "edible" citrus. Don't waster your time on Thomasville.

Here is a link that might be useful: mrtexas

I have a Thomasville that I got from Stan McKenzie that is now 10 years old and 10 feet tall, grafted on Trifoliate. It does lose its leaves (well most of them) and has some tip dieback, but has done extremely well here in Louisville. I would suggest you contact Stan, he is really awesome and VERY helpful.

http://mckenzie-farms.com/

Campbellms, it strikes me that your original post just mentions the smell of an orange grove...and the following banter about hardy citrus, whether they're really hardy, and their culinary usefulness ensues...

...But the smell you mention is from the flowers, so if that's really what you're after, then taste may not be important? If that's the case, trifoliate orange and it's hybrids might do the trick. In any case, I second the tip about Stan McKenzie, and since you're in 7b, I imagine you could get something from him with some culinary use.

I've grown plenty citrus in pots, for years and years - this will the first winter for my Morton Citrange, Changsha and Arbequenia Olive (ok, that's not a citrus). I got tired of dragging the pots in and out and they are supposed to be hardy for my zone (7b) so this is their test year. I plan on wrapping them in plastic should things get ugly.

Next year I will add a sour orange and two Ichang lemons. The sour orange got left out by accident an entire winter when it was a tiny baby plant and it survived some pretty cold temps. The Ichang Lemons have survived for years here at our local arboretum and everyone raves about the flavor.

"Any recent news for a citrus hardy to Zone7"

One thing that should be mentioned is that all the common cold hardy citrus have been around for decades, if not centuries- there is not much point in asking this every year, as not much if anything is going to change.
There are still some people attempting to make new genetic crosses, etc. but in my opinion, there is no point waiting for some magical perfect cold hardy citrus to come along when there are plenty of varieties now available.

In other words: What are ya waitin' fer??? ;-)