On the right is our Double Mahoi banana in bloom. The grandkids love the cute 1930's kid's garden bench.

The seating area, snuggled next to the gas furnace. On the left, you can see the trunk of the banana, which is currently lashed to the wall!

The Orangerie stays a little cooler in the winter, dipping to the mid 40's (F).  This suits the citrus trees quite well, as they prefer a bit of chill to stimulate blooming.  Other marginally tropical plants such as the loquat, guava and pineapple also do well out here.
There are currently about 40 species in the orangerie, although some plants get moved between the two houses, depending on the weather.
The Orangerie also provides the buffer needed in case of escaped birds!

We are overwintering the pond plants in the orangerie, in a temporary pond made by 2x4's and a tarp. Maybe we will raise crayfish in the spring when the plants go back in the koi pond.

Bix orellana - Annatto tree

Prostanthera rotundifolia - Australian Mint bush. It smells like an oregano bush and a mint plant had a baby!

Citrus aurantiifolia - Bearss Lime. Tiny fruits have set on, replacing the ones we have recently picked and eaten.

Vernon amydalina - African Bitter Leaf. The seeds came from my friends in Cameroon. The leaves are used extensively in West African cooking. When washed properly, they have a slightly bitter taste and add a wonderful flavor to soups and stews.

Microcitrus australasica - Australian Finger Lime. Hundreds of tiny fruits are on the bush this time of year.

Mature Finger Limes are about the size of... well... your finger!

Finger Lime bush can be kept pruned to under 6 ft in height.

Synsepalum dulcificum - Ledidi, or miracle berry. In the summer, it will be covered in beautiful red berries that have the unique capacity to make everything sour or bitter taste sweet!

Ledidi flower buds

Persia americana - avocado, variety "fantastic".

Capparis spinosa var. inermis - Spineless Caper. The unopened flower buds are pickled and made into nonpareil capers. The developed fruit are picked and called caper berries

Delicious Ledidi berries

Chrysophyllum canto - Caimito. One of our South American trees, just a youngster, grown from Colombian seed.

The beautiful Caper flower. I didn't have the heart to pluck them before they opened just to pickle them!

Banana flowers, and soon-to-be banana fruit

Must acuminata - It is always entertaining as the banana "does its thing". We get lots of visitors when this happens!

We started a second fig tree because we were worried we may have killed the Peter's Honey with a hard root pruning. Of course, it seems you just can't kill a fig, so now we have two!

Ananas nanas - Dwarf Pineapple. Cute little things, and we love to give them as house-warming gifts to our "fruity" friends!

Cymbopons citratus - Lemon Grass.

Lulo flower.

Ficus carica - Peter's Honey Fig is a green/yellow ripening fig with incredible flavor. Somehow, they never seem to make it into the house!

We love growing brown and green cotton. Unique, and so pretty.

Yep, Bourkes Grasskeets are colored like a pineapple!

The tiny purple flowers each become a a fruit, which are fused together to form the pineapple.

Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat.

Loquat flowers

Solanum quitoense - Lulo. One of several very unusual and interesting members of the nightshade family. Produces a delicious, sweet fruit.

Citrus sinensis - Washington Navel Orange just setting fruit. There are a dozen or so citrus varieties in the orangerie, including several lemons, limes and oranges.

Rubia tinctorum - Dyer's Madder. One of the few non-edibles in the arboretum. Maybe someday I will try to make dye from the roots.

Passiflora eduli - Passionfruit, from our trip to Hawaii three years ago. Happily climbing its trellis, with the apparent goal of taking over the orangerie!

Psidium litorale - Strawberry Guava. Beautiful and delicious.

The fruit of the Strawberry Guava tree.

Solanum betaceum - Tamarillo. Although it bears delicious fruit, the leaves emit an odor similar to melted asphalt. Interestingly, fungus gnats are drawn to it, and impale themselves on the hairy leaves. The plant is apparently a photo-carnivore, because it rapidly dissolves and absorbs the bugs. Yuck.

Opuntia ficus-indica - Tuna. A very delicious prickly pear variety that we found in Peru.

Talcum triangular - Water Leaf. Another very rare plant from Cameroon, grown from seed provided by our friends at Forest House Cameroon. It's claim to fame is that, when cooked, it is slimier than okra! Now THAT is a feat to be proud of!

The bottom shelf is the seedling area, while above them are orchids and Chaya cuttings.

Solanum sibundoyense - TomateSalvaje. Another highly unusual tomato relative. We have really gotten interested in the Solanaceae family lately!

The flowers of the Strawberry Guava are very fragrant, and when the tree is in bloom, visitors look around for jasmine!

Streletzia Regina - Bird of Paradise. Mandela's Gold variety, from seeds brought back from our South Africa trip in 2014.

Citrus reticulate - Tangor. Almost ripe. Almost. Must... resist... picking...

Werklea ferox - so odd it doesn't have a "common" name! Another of the non-edible-but-too-weird-to-pass-up plants.

Beautiful and delicate Water Leaf flower.