Wednesday, October 05, 2016

I could smell the citrus blossom as soon as I walked in....

 
Tonight when I got home from the store, I went straight out to the greenhouse. The first thing I noticed as soon as I walked in the door was the sweet smell of citrus blossom. I went straight to the back and looked for the blossoms. It was on the lemon tree, hidden under a leaf. There was ONE FLOWER. Only one. I couldn't believe that I could smell that one flower 16' away from the door I had entered in. Isn't that just amazing. Then I had to focus. I had a mission. On our way home from Gabriola Island yesterday we stopped at Dinter Nursery of course. We wanted to pick up a new minimum/maximum thermometer for the citrus house. It is predicted to be a very cold winter. So I hung it right above the lemon tree so that if that end gets cooler we will know it. We are going to get a smaller supplemental heater to put in the Citrus end of the greenhouse, just in case our old large heater just can't cope with the new 8 X 18' greenhouse size. Also it is about 35 years old and I just don't want to push my luck.
 
 
This is the new thermometer hanging above the lemon tree.
 
 
If you don't know how to read a min/max thermometer I am going show you. This is the reading on the thermometer this morning. Since it was reset yesterday, the low in the citrus house was 13 degrees Celsius and the high was just over 21 degrees. You read the temperature at the bottom edge the blue liquid. Red is below zero and black is above zero degrees. The numbers on the outside are Celsius and the inside are Farenheit. The left side is the temperature low, and the right is the high. To reset you just push and hold that long skinny button in the middle.

5 comments:

Linda aka Crafty Gardener said...

That is a fantastic thermometer to have. Hope winter isn't as cold as they predict.

Caro said...

My lemon tree is currently sitting in a pot outside, no protection, so I'm hoping for another mild winter. I have two tiny lemons and one flower on it at the moment but I'm inspired by a large lemon tree/shrub growing untended at the entrance to a block of flats nearby. That tree was covered in lemons all last winter! My tree used to sit on the landing outside my flat where I could smell the flowers as I went past - absolutely heavenly! Unfortunately, kids used to pick off all the fruitlets so I had to move it. C'est la vie. Enjoy your tree, I hope it thrives in your greenhouse.

Erin said...

We had the coldest wind off the water today and tonight a windstorm. Hmmmmm.

Erin said...

Caro, I hope you have a mild winter too. Do you a garage you could put it in or even an overhang outside. That would be helpful.

Pam's English Garden said...

The sweet smell of citrus blossom ... how lovely! You must be overjoyed with your greenhouse, Erin. P. x