Orange! What is your favorite variety of oranges?

I am still very new to many orange varieties.
Only have a small experimental orchard.
What are you all growing?

Mine is Sea Buckthorn, but it's not at all an orange. Living up north it's what's nearest in taste, smell, color, vitamins, etc. to true orange...

http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/facts/seabuckthorn.htm

Kumquat which still have to be protected in my climate, but more cold tolerant than most common oranges like Valencia, navel and blood orange.

The round kumquats are good but the oblong ones are very sour and I do not care for them.  Satsumas grow well here.  They are a mandarin that is not too sweet or tart, very easy to peel, some are seedless, some not.  I also like a good blood orange but I have had a lot more yucky ones than good.  

Oranges have always filled the toe pocket of the stockings in our house. Usually huge Washington Naval oranges for Christmas. The Valencias in the back yard are usually a bit too sour still come the holidays. Can't say I have a Favorite orange, but dislike any variety that's overripe and mealy.

Calamondin orange! The delightful fruit makes fabulous marmalade, with its sweet skin and tart, juice interior. I live in 7A, USA so it has to live in a pot and come indoors to avoid the frost.  I grow Meyer lemon, kefir lime, and cotton (etrog) that way. I use the leaves and flowers too.

I cast my vote for Tangelos.



https://www.thespruceeats.com/what-are-tangelos-5208738

These are easy to peel and have a sweet-tart flavor.

Mandarins and Ponkans.

Even though it's (north) Florida, we get some bad short term freezes and the HLB citrus disease is taking out everything citrus  that isn't near an oak tree.

These two can weather those freezes and the disease if planted strategically under oak trees (south side under the overhang).

It slows their growth big time but other than a greenhouse, that's the only option.

more detail:
https://youtu.be/jtO0Pa6tD8s


Another interesting one from Russia, speaking of greenhouses:

https://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2020/04/fruit-trenches-cultivating-subtropical-plants-in-freezing-temperatures.html

I like navels too but i think more important is where they are from not just variety. Portugal does alot of orange bragging and rightfully so, History of the Portuguese introducing them to Europe from asia was a game changer
the Algarve has some really great citrus shame about the water problem but maybe they will start investing in some desalination plants its really about time.

Oranges in Portugal

From my experience, it's going to depend on what you want to do with your oranges.  A lot of a varieties cross functions, which is a great plus.

If you are looking for juicing them, there are many great varieties that produce tons of juice.  

If you want to make pies or quick breads then Mandarin varieties are great - wonderful flavor and they have enough structure to hold together in the baked goods.

If you are looking to make orangeade beverages (like lemonade) then you will want to grow sour oranges.

Eating out of hand, my personal favorites are the Mandarin varieties and blood oranges.

Marmalade making?  I like Mandarin varieties as well.  A lot of these guys don't have a lot of pith.  Pith does have it's benefits, but I find it too bitter for everyday eating.

Making candied citrus slices?  Kumquats are wonderful for that....also whole candied fruit.  Kumquat pies are very yummy.  (If you live in Florida, Dade City has a Kumquat Festival in January).  .....kumquats are not oranges, but I thought I would add them in just for fun.

A tip for you ..... look to see if your orange tree variety will have thorns if you are buying a grafted tree.  A lot of folks don't realize that citrus trees naturally have thorns.  The thornless varieties are great, but depending on where you live, your variety choices may be limited.

OOOH!  .....added information you never asked for but is something to consider........if you live in an area that can and does freeze and your tree is grafted on rootstock......aaand your tree freezes, it will usually will grow back from/with the rootstock variety.  Different rootstocks are used and it's difficult to know what you will wind up with.  Every tree I've seen grow back from the rootstock after a freeze has big thorns (I've seen them over 2 inches).  About half the trees wound up having sweet fruits and the other half wound up with sour fruits.  Usually the fruit is still useful, but it's going to depend how you use your citrus.

.....more information you never asked for.....Citrus greening (among other citrus diseases) is a problem in Florida and lots of studies are underway on how to manage the disease and what varieties of citrus are immune to it.  To find out if greening or other diseases are a problem in your area, you can contact your county's agriculture extension.  One of the things I've seen reported on a few times is that citrus trees that are found in the middle of nowhere (a.k.a. grown from seed from some passing animal or from natural fruit fall) seem to be immune to  greening, and other citrus diseases as well.  If you know someone who has some of these wild trees growing on their property (and you have the room) it may be a good long term experiment to grow out seeds from some of the fruit to see how they withstand disease.  The action may help citrus trees in the long run and just like other fruit trees grown from seed, you may wind up with a yummy new variety.

Having recently moved from a citrus growing mecca - SoCal (zone 9b/10a) to the mostly citruse-less PNW (zone 8a/b), I've thought a lot about non-fossil-fuel-aided ways I might continue growing citrus up here, and which varieties I might try first. That search has dredged up examples of some fairly successful local(ish) endeavors (check out the Duncans in BC https://www.fruittreesandmore.com/). Obviously your growing conditions, and whether you're  interested in protected culture [if you're not in ideal citrus country] will heavily influence what varieties you might want to try. Sounds like trovita sweet oranges are worth a shot for less than ideal conditions.

Growing conditions aside, the best oranges I've ever had were ones I tried while conducting field research on the Caribbean Island of Trinidad. There are many different varieties there that don't seem to have much of a temperate presence, but that i consider outstanding. My two favorites are Ortanique and King Orange - the latter remains a deep glossy forest green when ripe but with deep orange flesh. If I can muster up sufficient heat from a passive solar greenhouse I'm definitely eager to try growing those up here along with some of the more conventional varieties.

My next door neighbor has numerous citrus trees in her backyard.  I will say that it is well protected by it's smallish size, fencing, outbuildings, and the fact that a significant area is concrete (lots of mass/heat buffer).  

She has different varieties; some are in the ground & some are in large pots, but they all stay outside year round.  I'm not sure of which varieties they all are.  Usually when I ask, the common name she gives is something like Japanese orange / lemon / grapefruit.  She is originally from Japan.  

She does have a fairly large tangerine tree that her husband bought from one of the home store garden centers approx. 15 years ago and it produces proliferously most years, probably due in part to the fact that he kept a compost pile continuously fed near the base of the tree.  I think that they taste very good, but I also dont mind all the seeds.

usda zone 8b

Cl Robinson wrote:The round kumquats are good but the oblong ones are very sour and I do not care for them.  Satsumas grow well here.  They are a mandarin that is not too sweet or tart, very easy to peel, some are seedless, some not.  I also like a good blood orange but I have had a lot more yucky ones than good.  

The sour kumquats are great for making marmalade and jam, imo.