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The plant’s environment, its species, and being cared for all factor into if a plant will be around a few weeks or years. 

Mary Meyer, a retired professor and grass collection curator with the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, has grown a tropical tree for decades. 

“I have an orange tree from my grandmother, which is a wonderful heritage plant,” said Meyer. 

The origin of this citrus tree dates to the 1960s, in Port Allegany, Pa., where Meyer’s grandmother, Rena Thorne Anderson, lived. Meyer says her grandmother was an avid gardener and passionate about plants. She remembers spending time with her grandmother, learning about plants and caring for them in her garden. 

Friends and family took notice of Anderson’s passion for plants and would use it as a staple gift for any occasion. Meyer said one day, someone gifted her grandmother a monthly plant subscription. 

“She was gifted a plant of the month gift,” said Meyer. “She opened this plant, a tiny, small, little mail order plant that was an orange tree, and said, ‘What are they thinking? I can't grow an orange in Pennsylvania. What am I going to do with this?’ But she grew it.”

Anderson kept the tree as an indoor plant for the rest of her life. After she died, the plant went to Meyer’s home, making the cross-country trip to Minnesota.  

This calamondin orange tree has been alive since the 1960s, about six decades. Meyer has had it in her home for about 40 years. 

The tree has also never really lived in a climate ideal for its livelihood. While Meyer can be considered an expert in natural sciences herself, keeping the tree alive all these years has been work.  

“It's kind of a pain in the neck because it needs a lot of light, you have good south [facing] windows,” said Meyer. She added that it needs a tremendous amount of water for the fruit to mature and ripen just right.    

Meyer says the tree produce hundreds of tiny and tart calamondin oranges. Winter is when the oranges ripen and are best for picking. On Jan. 21, Meyer and her grandchildren harvested 168 calamondin oranges — a sizeable haul but still short of the all-time record of 332 oranges from December 2020. 

Meyer has the help of her of her two daughters and two grandchildren to help pick the fruit, although it’s normally more of a fun activity for Meyer’s grandchildren. 

Once picked, Meyer will go through the process of taking the harvested calamondin oranges for a marmalade spread. The tart jelly is sealed, stored and eaten throughout the year.   

Over the years, keeping the tree alive has become a family affair. Meyer’s daughters water and care for the tree while she is on vacation or away over the winter months. Meyer’s grandchildren enjoy harvesting the citrus whenever possible. 

Sitting at her kitchen table with sliced calamondin oranges, Meyer asked who will take the tree when she’s gone. Without hesitation, both grandchildren claim dibs on being the plant’s next forever home. 

“This is great, you're gonna outlive your mom,” said Meyer. “This means the orange will live forever.”

Leaving Meyer confident that her heritage tree will live on. 

Do you have a “Hand-Me-Down?” An artifact of your own with a compelling origin story? Let us know at 

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Hand-Me-Downs

Matthew Alvarez

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A retired Minnesota horticulturist has cared for a calamondin orange tree that’s been part of her family for about 60 years.  

Tropical plant has a forever home in Minnesota

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