Your Family Tree 

This is the part of the website where we will share stories from  people who enjoy growing Four Winds Growers Dwarf Citrus Trees. If you want to share your story with us, just fill out and submit this form. Your story may appear here on our website. We are currently having a contest for the story that touches us most deeply. The winner will be eligible to receive a citrus tree of their choice (at no charge) from our available 2-3 year inventory. We look forward to hearing from you.

--Mary Helen Seeger

The Sock StoryOn an occasion many years ago, a customer drove into our nursery in Mission San Jose California.  He proclaimed he had come all the way from Wisconsin and wanted an orange tree. While on a business trip a couple of years prior he had bought a tree in Southern California. He was greatly disappointed when it did not survive. Read more »

I would like to share my experience with Four Winds Citrus.I had been wanting to buy another citrus tree but was a little leery because I had spent good money last year on two citrus trees from another company. I paid good money for what ended up being two sticks, a few leaves, and a small amount of soil around the roots. Read more »

Grandmother's spectacular lemon-meringue pie...Aunt Stu's freshly squeezed lemonade for picnics in the park...and miles and miles of beautiful citrus as seen from Santa Fe's Hi-level El Capitan on my way to Southern California for yet, another long-anticipated summer stay are all great childhood memories that continue to live on, thanks to Four Winds Growers and their premium dwarf citrus trees.
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Ever since I was little, I would travel back and forth from my house in the tropics to this one, where I now live in New England. I remember getting off the plane in the south, and getting a huge whiff of citrus blossoms. Read more »

I just wanted to pass along a tip.  I have been growing my four citrus trees indoors, and they LOVE my LED grow lights.  These are so-called "PAR-38" bulbs that screw into any common light fixture, and consume only 10W each.  They are constructed with 120 red LED's and 48 blue LED's designed to match their output to the absorption spectra of chlorophyll.  I purchased 5 for $120.00, making it a low cost, efficient solution to supplement natural light for my trees here in New England.  Right now the trees are loaded with blossoms, and the whole house smells fragrant.   - Tim Turner, Belmont, MA

We first got started with citrus trees 25 years ago and now have several citrus trees here in MN, 2 orange, 2 lemon, 1 grapefruit, 1 lime. We keep them in the house in winter & out on the deck in summer. We continuously have had good luck with our trees & enjoy them so very much. Our first tree was bought 25 years ago & now we have that one plus 5 others in the house. We have flowers, mature citrus & growing ones all at the same time! It's the topic of many conversations!!! We are currently adding on to our home to make more room for our growing trees!!!

...We were in two local newspapers & on one TV news broadcast. It seems to be a big thing in MN, not only to us!!!

Bob & Dar Ripka
Rice, MN

My mother once told me her Meyer lemon was the best tree ever.  When I had a home of my own I planted one and it has been the best tree ever!  My mother taught me to squeeze them and place juice in ice cube trays, freeze them, then place in freezer bags.  This way you can make Sweet Meyer Lemonade all year around.  My tree is extremely productive and I share lemons with all my friends.  This year I went one step further and looked up recipes and created a Meyer Lemon/Cranberry bundt cake, and yummy lemon bread!

Petra Lakes, San Bernardino CA

I too bought from a "catalog" and got a stick.  I nurtured it along and it is (finally) producing well.  I have since purchased other Dwarf Meyer Lemon and Dwarf Navel Orange from Four Winds.  Here in Michigan of course we must take the trees in during the winter as it gets way below zero.  I put my trees in the window to get sun.

A nice thing about my trees that they are next to a window that looks down into a valley and I have my spotting scope set up to watch wildlife there.  It is so neat to sit down and watch deer, coyote, owls, etc. while smelling the beautiful aroma of citrus blossoms.

The last crop of lemons I had off my three foot tree was 9.  I am looking forward to my first crop of navel oranges.  I use the lemons to make Lemon Chess Pie. To pollinate the trees in the winters I use a Q-tip, but my wife says that to really be pollinating, I have to buzz at the same time.  I really don't know how those guys do it, buzz and pollinate at the same time!  Sometimes I cheat and don't buzz.

Richard Schinkel, Barrien Springs, MI

I got started 3 years ago and now my Dad is also interested in growing citrus trees as a hobby.  I was never happy with other nurseries' citrus trees, until I found Four Winds online.  When I first called, Kerry answered my questions - even helping me with my peach tree.   When my citrus trees came, they were the nicest, bushiest trees I have gotten.  Whenever I have had questions, Four Winds has been there to help.  I know that Kerry and this company stand by their trees, and they are some of the nicest  people you will ever meet, and trust me you will love your trees!
PS. I already have oranges on my trees.  Thanks, Four Winds!

Tammy Groves, Lavergne, TN

Our living room affords us the luxury of hosting your elegant yet still practical dwarf citrus trees, and that provides me with the illusion of being in places I'm now excluded from visiting. My illness and blindness may limit me, but your trees and their bounty are gifts in ways others could never imagine. To some a tree, to me an adventure!

Kerry Grigg, Caldwell, ID

 I am a 39 year old man who grew up, as many Americans have, with parents from another country who used to grow, and now missed their local fruits.  My father used to go on and on about the fruit back home... I developed the "spring fever" for growing when I was pretty young, and my interest would always be in things that fruit...citrus, mango, banana,guava, etc.  Read more »

My twin brother, Dave, passed away August 17, 2011, at the age of 53 from a heart attack while out of town on business.  Dave was responsible for most of the members of the family eating oranges, as well as introducing us to beer that is so much better with orange slices in it.  To honor Dave, I planted an orange tree in my back yard in a container so if I ever moved we could take it with us.  We are a large family (seven kids) with children of our own and we get together a lot.  At Christmas time we gather at my house where it should be the perfect time for everyone to see the orange tree planted in his honor.  One sister ordered a stone plaque that sits in front of the tree, dedicating the tree to Dave.  We all hope to be eating the oranges from the tree very soon. 

While we are all very sad about Dave's very early passing, this is one way to remember him fondly.  One niece just got a tattoo of an orange tree with a bottle of beer and some sunglasses in his memory.  My brother Dave was a very good man.  His wife of 25 years and his two children will miss him most, but we will always have our orange tree, a True Dwarf Washington Navel. 

Shirley Sexton, Elk Grove, CA

Hi! I saw this contest on your site and wanted to share my experience with citrus trees.  As an Asian born and raised by an Asian family, me and my kid brother learned about eating and enjoying citrus when we were very young.  When I was growing up my parents' home had an orange tree, a mandarin orange tree and a lime tree; along with many other fruit trees.  Me and my kid brother have fond memories of the lime tree that my parents grew in the backyard.  Every time it was ripe and loaded with fruit, I created this imaginary club called the "Lemon Club" (we did find out later the tree was a lime tree), and as an "initiation" test, we had to eat the limes in a few different ways - some of them being raw, raw with salt, raw with sugar, and squeezing the juice to freeze and eat in those ice cube forms.

As the self-elected leader of the club I decided whether each member was to pass or fail.  Passing all the tests granted the club members unique privileges - such as piggy back rides and anti-snitching policies.  Now it is very fair to say that as a kid and even now, I love eating sour citrus.  The taste and tingle of limes and lemons intoxicate me in a pleasureable stupor.  However, my kid brother hated sour citrus and having him eat these sour citrus was a real test.  Needless to say, even though we had the cheers and encouragement of all our stuffed animals, he never did pass all the tests -- but we did always grant him partial membership. 

Time passed and my parents sold our old house and moved into their current one.  They bought many citrus trees  -- half of them from Four Winds.  But they never bought another lime tree again -- despite my begs and pleas.  My childhood memories of the Lemon Club seemed to be dwindling away forever.  As me and my brother grew older and went to college and started working full time we never spoke of the famed "Lemon Club."  We each stabilized our careers, got married and recently bought our own houses.  On a recent visit to his place I noticed that he planted a Mexican (Key) lime tree from Four Winds and it already had fruit!  I quickly asked him why he planted the lime tree since he clearly doesn't like limes.  He responded with, "Remember the 'Lemon Club'? I grew it to give you limes since you love limes."  Thank you very much Four Winds for keeping my childhood memories alive!

Anthony T., CA

I have been collecting plants that remind me of my country, and I have a large collection of your citrus trees.  [During the holidays] I put cloves in oranges. The last few days my dog and I have been eating Australian Finger Limes; they are coming off the tree in large numbers!  Yesterday I cooed with citrons from my garden and I scent the house with oils from the bitter orange (Bergamot) which smells like Earl Grey tea.

I made our citrus corner in the sunniest spot in the yard, which happens to be right where the dining room porch is and the playroom window.  I love to open the windows and smell the delicious flowers!  Now that the last leaves have come off of deciduous trees, the citrus stand out in their rich green leaves!

I love your varieties and the trees are always so healthy!  Thanks for making my life so much richer with trees!

Christie Colla, San Anselmo, CA

I am a driver and bought two Moro Blood orange trees, one Meyer lemon and one Clementine mandarin (Four Winds trees).  Got lemons the first year, blooms like crazy.  2011 was the first yeaar to harvest oranges.  The trees sit outside all summer and are grown in a heated breezeway in winter.  People are amazed to hear about this and I take blooms around so people can smell that wonderful scent that is in my home.  I will be adding more trees to my collection... Zone 4 WE GOT CITRUS!!

Thomas McCauley, Plainfield, WI

Hello, Four Winds.  About four years ago I purchased a Meyer lemon tree from your company.  It has produced lemons since the end of the first year!  This winter I have a bumper crop of huge lemons.  My tree lives outdoors from April 1 to November 1, spending winters in my sunroom.  It is a special treat to have a fruiting tree in January!  I share the lemons with relatives and friends who think they are the best lemons they have ever had.  I counted 26 lemons last week and that is after I picked at least 6 or 8 for Christmas cooking.  Can't tell you how happy I am with my lemon tree and wanted to thank you for having such great products.  I plan to purchase a lime tree in the spring.

Betty Santagati, Lowell, MA

I became interested in citrus when I first heard about the tangelo fruit back when I was a freshman in high school.   I heard it was a cross between a grapefruit and a tangerine, and thought that sounded like an intersting combination.  I wanted to buy some to see what they tasted like, but none of the grocery stores near my home carried them.  I looked in grocery stores when I travelled as well, but the tangelo was nowhere to be seen.  Then almost seven years after I first heard of tangelos, I discovered Four Winds Growers.  I saw that they had Minneola tangelo trees for sale and quickly bought one.  I also bought a Meyer lemon, a Centennial Variegated Kumquat, and a Washington navel orange.  All the trees have now started to bear fruit, and this past summer I was finally able to taste a tangelo - not from a grocery store but from a tree of my very own! 

By this time I had become quite interested in citrus varieties and hoped to start a citrus garden of my own.  I live in Maryland, which is in Zone 7 and not exactly the prime citrus-growing location, but I was determined to find a way to grow them here by keeping them outside int he spring and summer months and bringing them inside and placing them under grow lights for fall and winter...  Now I have a collection of ten citrus trees which are all thriving, fruiting and remaining perfectly healthy even here in Maryland!  It all began by discovering Four Winds, which enabled me to learn about all the different varieties of citrus and how to care for them.  It's much more special to pick and eat fruit off of your own trees that you put hours of work into caring for, than to buy it at the grocery store.  And it tastes that much better too! 

Sarah Keyes, Ellicott City, MD

We've had our Meyer lemon tree for about six or seven years now and usually get up to a dozen or so lemons each year.  Last year was exceptional; during the Christmas break the tree must have had hundreds of blossoms; beautiful fragrant and delicate flowers!  Since we live outside the Boston area, the tree was indoors and I was very busily pollinating these blossoms with my handy Q-Tip every time I saw one pop out.  During this period my husband, who is very sensitive to any type of perfume, decided to take a week off and was home.  The blooms lasted for about three weeks, giving him a headache the whole time, while I was in seventh heaven savoring the lemony floral aroma in the house! 

Last spring the tree decided to start blooming again - but my husband was prepared.  Since it was still too cold to move it outdoors he had a plan.  He built a teepee out of plastic panels for the tree and moved it outside.  Good Grief! I thought, 'He's going to suffocate my tree!'  So I made sure to keep an eye on it, monitoring it each day I got home from work - and each day at least one of the sides had fallen over.  That lasted about a month when the weather finally warmed up enough to set it free!  So here we are in December again; there are no blossoms so far and heaven knows what my husband is going to do.  He may just have to move out temporarily!  I'll keep you posted.

Annie Valentine, Lincoln, MA

I LOVE my dwarf citrus trees from Four Winds Growers.  I've had five of them for a number of years and like the portability when I move and always have citrus -- be it lemons, oranges or mandarins.  Having them in containers eliminates the below ground pests and I can bring a tree indoors when it is in flower to enjoy the fragrance of the blooms.  They are a real treat in just about every way... low maintenance, beautiful, bountiful and fragrant.  All my trees are from Four Winds because I know I am getting a quality tree.

Liz Pullen, Aptos, CA