KAREN WIGHT -- No Place Like Home

Every garden needs at least one citrus tree. It doesn’t need to be big

to deliver the sweet smell of spring, and it doesn’t need to have a

premier location for you to provide a constant supply of fruit.

Your citrus can be a dwarf tree planted in a decorative pot or a sour

orange hedge to screen a fence. You can make a conventional choice, such

as a navel orange, or a decorative selection, such as a variegated lemon.

Citrus trees and shrubs can be as large as a standard tree or as small

as a miniature dwarf variety. Oranges, lemons, limes and grapefruits are

widely available. More unusual citrus, such as kumquats and tangelos, may

be easily ordered through a nursery or a landscape professional.

The fragrance of citrus blossoms is one of the best parts of a spring

garden. The smell reminds me of Victorian homes with wraparound porches.

Freshly picked grapefruit for breakfast. Midnight sirens alerting men to

light the smudge pots.

Growing up in Riverside meant sharing an appreciation for citrus

groves. It was a lifestyle for many families. The city was founded as a

farming community. Landmarks such as the Parent Navel Orange Tree still

stand.

My high school, Riverside Polytechnic, chose green and orange -- as in

the trees -- for the school colors. UC Riverside was built in the middle

of an orange grove.

The smell of spring in Riverside is a treasured memory. By now, most

of the groves have been sold off and legions of tract houses have sprung

up in their place. The groves still standing in town belong to families

who can afford to be “gentlemen farmers.” Electric heaters have replaced

the smudge pots.

The aging groves have not been renewed with younger trees. Lifestyles

have changed, and the groves are more profitable as real estate

developments than as farmland.

But if your timing is just right on a crisp spring morning, you can

still walk along the irrigation canals and smell the flowers from a few

remaining groves. The cool air combined with fresh citrus blossoms is

nature’s promise of renewal.

It’s a smell I still covet -- and a fragrance I want to share with

you.

Add a handsome citrus to your yard or patio. You can’t lose. Beautiful

glossy green leaves, delicious and decorative fruit, and every spring,

the promise that all things old will be new again.

* KAREN WIGHT is a Newport Beach resident. Her column runs Sundays.