I am very sorry that our website is not yet completed and that some of the questions that have already been sent might have been deleted. I am not exactly proficient with computers. There is, of course, a certain degree of disdain for the contraptions that necessitated industrialization of the formerly agricultural and horticultural Santa Clara Valley.

A question sent earlier by email, which I would like to take credit for as I do with all my other topics, asks: "Can I grow a lemon tree from the seeds of a Eureka lemon?" Well, of course you can. However, like a mail-order bride, you won't know what you are going to get until it arrives.

Some fruit trees exhibit sufficient genetic stability to produce genetically similar seed. For example, Elberta peach is so genetically stable that its seed is used to grow rootstock for orchards.

However, most fruits are so extensively hybridized that it is very unlikely that the fruit of the trees grown from seed would resemble those from which the seed was obtained. The Meyer lemon is a hybrid of a lemon and an orange. Fruit of a "lemon" tree grown from a seed of a Meyer lemon may exhibit any combination of characteristics innate to the fruit of either of the two "grandparents" or any other parent that might have pollinated the flower.

The Shawb (rough) lemon is a product of the same hybrid that produced the Meyer lemon that effectively demonstrates the potential for genetic variation among the seedlings. It is only useful as an understock for standard citrus, but produces rather uselessly insipid and unappealingly lumpy fruit.

Another problem associated with lemon trees grown from seed is that they begin life with fruitless and wickedly thorny juvenile growth that is known in horticultural slang as the Vladimir lemon (although not actually a cultivar). Scions used to graft citrus trees are obtained from adult growth, so they lack thorns and bloom freely.

Many species initially produce juvenile growth for various reasons, but I believe that among citrus, juvenile growth is tough and thorny so that it is not appealing to grazing animals. The more familiar fruiting adult growth might not appear for many years, until a seedling "thinks" it is out of reach of grazers.

Flower of the Week:
Mountain laurel

A colleague from Blair County in Appalachian Pennsylvania once wrote in his childhood memoirs of running through a meadow "of knee-high laurel, our state flower." Consequently, when we planted stock specimens in the arboretum at Bay Laurel Nursery, I expected they would not become taller than 2 feet or so. As several grew as tall as about 4 feet, I researched mountain laurel, Kalmia latifolia, and found that they may grow slowly, but can eventually become taller and wider than 7 feet!

Mountain laurel is related to rhododendron and has similar cultural preferences. It will be happiest with partial shade, regular irrigation, good drainage and rich, acidic soil. Some horticultural publications do not recommend it for areas near the Santa Cruz Mountains or the San Francisco Bay (Sunset's zones 16 and 17), but we have not experienced any difficulty growing it either in Scotts Valley or Los Gatos. It is unfortunately not common in retail nurseries.

The unrefined nature of mountain laurel is conducive to "natural" gardens. The glossy leaves are about 4 inches long. Five-inch-wide floral trusses are composed of unusually shaped, 1-inch-wide flowers that bloom in May or June. Floral color ranges from white to red, with several shades of pink.

Horticulturist Tony Tomeo can be contacted at 408.358.2574 or at LGHORTICULTURE@aol.com.