Grapefruit tree in UK

[citrange]

It is not often that a grapefruit tree makes it into the news bulletins in England but it has this week.
A tree in a south London street has been awarded a Tree Preservation Order and a brass plaque after a campaign by local residents.
The media are reporting that the tree was planted in 1980 by a lady from Grenada who has recently died.
Some reports are also saying that it is the only such tree in the UK, which is definitely incorrect. I have been listing outdoor citrus trees - including this one - on my website for several years. See https://www.homecitrusgrowers.co.uk/citrusplaces/londonoutdoorcitrus.html

[tedburn]

Very interesting link. Thanks for sharing.
Didn' t be aware, that grapefruits had been planted successful in ground in England.
Had only been aware of Citranges and Citrumelos.

[quinoah]

nice tree! do you know if it gets fruit of good quality?

[quinoah]

I just saw the sign says "bears fruit year round" - I didn't know that grapefruits can be bloom/fruit multiple times

[Millet]

I wonder if a red colored grapefruit would turn red in the UK?  The red color in grapefruit requires a LOT of heat during the fruit's growth.

[citrange]

I tasted one of the fruits and it had the rather bitter grapefruit taste that I remember from years ago. I liked it, but the commercial grapefruit available nowadays are certainly much sweeter and - as Millet says - often with red colour.
quinoah - Citrus here frequently have a second burst of flowering in response to a warm summer, after a cool spring has produced limited flowers. Perhaps that is why it is said to bear fruit year-round. But equally, in cooler climates, individual fruits can remain on the tree for many months.

[caladri]

Very interesting link. Thanks for sharing.
Didn' t be aware, that grapefruits had been planted successful in ground in England.
Had only been aware of Citranges and Citrumelos.

There was a brief historical period where there were substantial sour orange plantings in the south of England.

[citrange]

There was a brief historical period where there were substantial sour orange plantings in the south of England.

I don't know where you heard that - but I don't think it's correct!
There were orangeries associated with stately homes and a couple of south-facing 'citrus walls' in the mildest coastal areas of south-west England but not what I would call 'substantial plantings'.
Can you point us to any evidence?

[caladri]

There was a brief historical period where there were substantial sour orange plantings in the south of England.

I don't know where you heard that - but I don't think it's correct!
There were orangeries associated with stately homes and a couple of south-facing 'citrus walls' in the mildest coastal areas of south-west England but not what I would call 'substantial plantings'.
Can you point us to any evidence?

So, from the sources I can quickly find, there were open plantings at Beddington Park that were lightly sheltered in winter, wiped out after over a hundred years (wiped out by the Great Frost™), producing ten thousand fruit a year in their prime. I think that must have been the planting I was thinking of. Not entirely unprotected, but certainly substantial.

[citrange]

There is a very detailed research article about the Beddington oranges at https://www.cadhas.org.uk/app/download/5817192737/Occ+4+Orangery.pdf

These accounts tell a fairly consistent story. The orange trees were planted in the ground and
were covered in the winter by a wooden shed heated with stoves. Gibson says that the building
was over 200 feet (60.96m) long and that the trees were 13 feet (3.96m) high.

One wall of the later brick-built orangery still exists from about 1580.

[BP]

I was just reading about the orangery, it seems the "heating area" behind the orange area still exists. Im super curious how they kept them warm. Fires on the other side, warming the brick? Does that mean just a bunch of stoves getting stoked regularly? Very cool