posted 2 years ago
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.