The Elusive Blood Orange

by Pa Rock
Hole Digger

The ground has been cleared, the roses planted and bordered and mulched, and the stone blocks formed into circular borders in anticipation of three new citrus trees. Tomorrow I will visit several nurseries in search of the perfect specimens to adorn the east side of my house.

I am considering lemon, lime, or tangerine for the trees on the ends of the garden, and my final choices will rest primarily on the quality of the available selections. They have to be well-shaped and healthy.

The middle tree will be more problematic. I want the center of attention to be a Blood Orange, but I am learning that they are the first to go when the new trees arrive in the fall. Today I was able to track down one by phone, on the far side of town, of course. I won't reveal the price because if my dentist finds out that I am even considering buying it, he will raise his rates! I will trek on over tomorrow and check it out - and hope that some Black Friday shopper didn't beat me to it.

A year ago I had never even heard of a Blood Orange. But then one of my former thirty-year-old bosses came to work one day and announced excitedly that he just discovered the small orange tree in his front yard was a "Blood." There was something about the way he flaunted the news that made me realize that I had to have one. No yuppie adolescent with an overpriced home was going to out-tree Pa Rock!

And when I have found the elusive Blood Orange, my next quest will be to locate a Crip Mango!