Oranges and Lemons, say the Bells of St Clements...

The Nursery rhyme/game of Oranges and Lemons or at least the last couple of lines:
"here comes a candle to light you to bed,
here comes a chopper to chop off your head!"
are supposed to come from the way that in Newgate prison in London, condemned prisoners were notified of their fate the night before their execution, by a warder carrying a candle. The execution itself was carried out to coincide with the bells from one of the churches. I've been told several different churches were the fateful bells, but as most churches used to chime the hours anyway, it could well have been any close to the prison........ahhh the "innocence" of childhood...
 Its almost as bad as "ring a ring a rosies" which is a whole 'nother , and equally gruesome, story!
Just what in all this, oranges and lemons have to do with anything, I'm really not sure, but today those lines are known to everyone even if they have no idea about the rest of the rhyme. And it is ofc the oranges and the lemons that I'm interested in, in my container orchard. (hows THAT for a segue, hunh?)
I have several citrus trees in amongst my container fruit orchard. All of them are new, purchased last winter (2012), so I havn't  had fruit from any of them yet, but they're attractive plants nonetheless, and i have a couple of more unusual varieties planted, with more planned.
I DO want to try to grow a "Lemonade" again, because I love the fruits, and hopefully this time, it'll last longer than a year unlike my last attempt, hopefully I'm not a "lemonade" serial killer like I seem to be with gardenias! Lemonade are fascinating citrus with fruit that look like lemons and have some "lemon" flavour, but are sweet like oranges and can be peeled and eaten like an orange too. The variety is a lemon mandarin orange hybrid, and was launched in Australia originally, and I'd dearly love to have one.

Cipo orange

One of the more unusual citrus I have is the "Cipo" orange, or "Pineapple orange". This orange has the most unusual growth habit, in that it's naturally weeping in form. The one I have here flowered profusely, and even set a fair bit of fruit but it has lost most of them now bar I think, two.
Thats ok though as I didn't expect it to fruit this year and most gardeners would say that I should have removed all the fruitlets myself. I hate doing that though, and in the end, the plant has done it itself.
I AM eagerly awaiting its first fruits tho, as it is supposed to be a good eating fruit, with few seeds and a sweet flavour. We shall see.

Bearrs Lime

Another citrus tree I have is the Bearss Lime, otherwise known as the Tahitian or Persian lime. Apparently this lime is the preferred one for pickling and is THE dried lime in Middle Eastern cuisine, and is named after  John T.Bearrs, who developed it in around 1885. The major differences between this and the other "true" key lime are that the Bearrs is larger, thicker skinned and sweeter, thought usually you see them for sale in an unripe state. The Bearrs is yellow when ripe and looks like a small lemon, but unless you grow them yourself you're unlikely to come across them. They're also indispensable in cocktails, especially frozen margaritas, which are brilliantly refreshing on a muggy Auckland summer day. I use a really simple to remember 1.2.3 recipe. With cocktails its always best to go by proportions rather than quantities, as you never know how many you are going to have to make!
Frozen Margarita
1 part sweet (triple sec)
2 parts sour (lime juice)
3 parts strong (tequila) 
ice
You may if you wish add some simple syrup to make a sweeter drink (equal parts sugar and water)
Throw all the above into a blender and blend till you have a slushy consistency. Drink and repeat as necessary!

Moro Blood Orange

Another unusual citrus I'm having a try at growing is the blood orange. There are several kinds of blood orange around, some bloodier than others. The one I have is called Moro, and is supposed to be one of the bloodiest. The plant I have is still small and won't fruit for at least a year yet but its a pretty wee plant in any case. Blood oranges are one of those things that have been "bandwagonised" if you will, by those who want the "new" but they've always been valued in the countries in which they grow, and are a good example of something "new" which is in fact , something "old". The main reason I'm growing them is for the flavour, which is said to be like orange but sweeter and with a hint of raspberry, which sounds very intriguing. And ok, the colour of the orange flesh and juice is a big drawcard too.

small meyer lemon

I really can't discuss my citrus without mentioning my lemons though. I have two Meyer lemons, and the plan was to get several more lemons of different kinds, but to start with the "dull (but easy to grow) old Meyer".  The Meyer ofc isn't really a lemon at all, but is thought to be a lemon orange hybrid, native to China and brought to the West by a Mr Frank Meyer. The orange cross gives it its sweet taste and lovely deep gold colour. It really doesn't have the sharpness of a true lemon like Lisbon, or Yen Ben, but it IS right at home in desserts. In some countries they're valued highly as a fruit,  especially today, but here, not so much, I guess because everyone has one or knows of one. "Familiarity breeds contempt" seems to be

The larger Meyer lemon

very true in the case of the Meyer. Ofc the reason the Meyer is so common here is that the climate (in the north at least) suits it far better than the true lemons. Of my two Meyers one is the larger one at the back door, and the other is a small plant, still to my shame, in the pot I bought it in. The little one was bought as a replacement for the bigger plant, which, about 3 months ago, I thought had turned up it's little rootlets and died. There were some signs of life though (due more, I have to admit, to laziness than any great observational skills), so I didn't throw it out and wonder of wonders, it decided to put out leaves and start growing and has continued to do so. Given it's rather rough few months, it didn't flower this year, but the little one made up for it, and has even got fruit on it, as well as more blossom. All in all, I guess the "dull old Meyers" have done me proud.