Not knowing exactly how many hours of sun you have in the spot I'm going to go out on a limnb and say blood orange. At least look it up.

I haven't grown the blood orange, but come to think of it my Satsuma orange is planted under the eaves to be close to the brick wall for warmth. With the overhang and other trees around it it doesn't get much sun and produces a nice crop of very sweet seedless easy to peel fruits that we really enjoy. I think the Satsuma variety of citrus stays fairly small.

One of my neighbors has a Satsuma, and it's about 30 feet tall... A little big for the spot. I'd have to investigate rootstock, though, because that could easily be a deciding factor in size

It gets 6-8 hours of sun, all in the morning into the afternoon.

I was poking around and though I had some good ideas, I think I'm going to stick to potted plants, for now, whatever I do!

Thanks for the ideas!

Regarding Blood Orange: I've heard they don't develop well here because the nights don't get cold enough. Is that not correct?

Not sure yet since they fruit Feb/Mar as I recall. I just planted mine this fall. It's about 4' tall. I'll post when I get fruit. It does like colder nights, warm days. But not cold below 32. I wondered if your spot might sort of mimic that. They are small trees and can be grown in pot and u will get fruit.

So... Thinking about your recommendation, I agree completely. I love blood oranges, and I'd like to give one a shot in March. I am a tricksy sort and would find a way to get the temperature right for redness over seasons of experimentation.

Also, I love Yuzu and Mandarin. I've measured it out better and I can do three whiskey barrel'ed citrus trees of about 8 feet high.

Mandarins are all over and readily available. No worries there.

Where would a new person to San Antonio locate a Yuzu tree, or a Blood Orange?

If I only plant three citrus - and that's all I could do - these are the only three I want. Yuzu and Blood Orange. (I'm near-ish to Rainbow Gardens' northwest location, but I've never seen citrus there since I moved in to Texas this autumn.)

I noticed Shades of Green had blood oranges a couple of years ago. I just checked Fanick's website since they specialize in fruit trees, and though they list 20 varieties of citrus there are no blood oranges (unless they are listed under another name), but you might want to give them a call or visit their nursery. They are an old family owned nursery and I have found them to be very knowledgable and trust worthy.

Here is a link that might be useful: Fanick's Nursery

I just checked the link to make sure it was right and discovered you can take a great 360 tour. Clicking on the yellow arrows take you down lanes to visit various areas.

Here is a link that might be useful: Take a tour ...

LOQUAT!

Seriously, they aren't just decorative, they have yummy fruit too! Also, they tend to bloom & fruit in seasons that are different from other fruit trees.

Buy the tree when it's fruiting--some produce fruit that tastes better than others.

(also--part shade/close to house/small spot = no prob)

No cold below 32 F? We've had colder than 32 a few times just this week! I suppose if kept in a container with wheels under it, it could be wheeled inside someone's garage or something. I've avoided citrus all these years just to avoid that kind of thing.

If the temp deters you how about a Kumquat?
I bought one last spring with fruit. Transplanted it into a large pot. It bloomed and fruited again in the fall. Much better flavor than the supr sour ones often in stores.

This is a rather small tree but had loads of fruit.

I was told they are the most cold hardy of the citrus, but I kept mine in a pot because I'm between D and FW.
I am enjoying this thread

c

Meiwa kumquat...pop them in your mouth like an orange grape with 3 seeds.

That's the one I have! I hope to get another this spring. It is so easy and gratifying to grow.

A needless followup, but my wife and I were gifted some loquat seeds from a local source, and we're starting some in pots to transplant into the spot in question. We're planning on using it as rootstock for clippings from a friend's tree. It will be a lovely, slow process, but fun! Thanks for the rec, everyone!

(Alas, with the citrus shipping restrictions, all the citrus I would have wanted is too hard to find for me to bother with when loquats are everywhere and we tried some and they are *delicious*...)

I LOVE loquats. Probably my second favorite fruit, next to mangos. Glad you picked it.

Loquot is a great idea for that area!

I was going to suggest a Meiwa Kumquat.

I don't want to discourage you from trying to graft loquat, but a friend who did a lot of grafting said loquat is one that he never had success with. Before putting in the time to grow the root stock from seed, etc, you might do some research and see if my friends experience was just a fluke or if others have had good success.

Well, I don't know about grafting loquat, but loquat seedlings are often good fruit without grafting. So even if you have trouble getting a graft to take, you'd probably wind up with decent fruit. I hear they are fairly quick to fruit from seed, too. Grafted loquat trees aren't that unusual in nurseries that specialize in exotic fruit trees, so it certainly can be done...

I got young Meiwa Kumquat and Improved Meyer Lemon at Costco for $20. My guess, year old grafted stock.

In San Antonio I would go with satsuma Miho Seto Xieshan or Owari on poncrius trifolate or better yet Flying dragon about 8 feet tall PT about 12 feet Miho is more upright than droopy. Also Kumquat is good I have Chang shou more like an orange taste and much bigger fruit. Satsuma good down to 22 and maybe more when older Kumquat might get close to 17 degrees.

One of my garden club friends and neighbors has a loquat tree growing, flowering and fruiting on the east side of her house with about the same exposure you have. She and her husband are gone all summer, so this gets no supplemental watering and does fantastic!

I haven't had luck yet duplicating the location, but I've already scouted where I'll buy my tree: Bob Wells Nursery in Lindale. While I don't see loquats on his web site, he has these trees in two greenhouses that are lovely and good prices!

I also see from his online store that he also has blood oranges - I wasn't looking at citrus, though the greenhouse smelled lovely. I've been there in person, picked up some berries and fruit trees (pluots and a chocolate persimmon) and am very pleased with the selection!

Here is a link that might be useful: Citrus at Bob Wells Nursery