SPS member Stan McKenzie organized the first ever South Carolina Citrus Expo at Riverbanks Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Columbia, South Carolina on Saturday, November 28, 2003. The event consisted of presentations by expert speakers, a citrus fruit contest and a plant sale.

The first speakers were Tom McClendon and Joe LeVert, who added a lot of spoken information to their slide presentations on citrus. Their approach was to avoid categorizing citrus by climate zone hardiness. They felt this would cause a lot of arguments because microclimates, soil and regional weather conditions are all a factor.

So they decided to list the hardiest of the different families of citrus (trifoliate, mandarin, Ichang, kumquat, sour orange, grapefruits, and their hybrids) with comments on culture, ornamental use and edibility. The more tasty commercial varieties tend to be less hardy. But if your knowledge of citrus extends only to what you see on grocery shelves, I urge you to do a little research. Some of these plants will really surprise you.

It was suggested that a hybrid called Thomasville citrangequat is one of the better hardy selections to grow. Fruit from this precocious tree can be picked early for make a nice lime substitute. “Thomasville tastes like a common sweet orange when it’s fully ripe,” said Tom, “but this only happens very late in the season and most northern growers will have to pick the fruit before this can happen because of freezes.”

The next presenter was Bob McCartney of Woodlanders Nursery in Aiken, S.C. Bob spoke about the history of his nursery and what selection of hardy citrus he has in his collection and how he cares for them.

The last presenter was Mike Barwald of Flying Dragon Nursery in Jacksonville, Fla. His nursery specializes in commercial quality citrus for the home grower. He spoke on citrus for USDA Zones 8b, 9 and 10, and the value of growing citrus on trifoliate rootstock for hardiness. And one gardening device he mentioned is called Thermocube, a thermostatically-controlled electrical outlet that switches on and off at five different temperature ranges. (See the web site www.thermocube.com.)

After the speakers finished, everyone gathered outside in the pavilion to learn the results of the citrus fruit competition. Ribbons were awarded for first and second place in each citrus category, and a grand prize was awarded.