Bay Sunset

Description

Bay Sunset is one of four New Zealand-bred mandarins in the HortResearch "Bay" series (the name covers the Bay of Islands, Bay of Plenty and Poverty Bay citrus regions). It resulted from a Clementine x Seminole Tangelo cross made in 1987 and was trialled in the Kerikeri research orchard, where it was selected for its unusual striped fruit and attractive foliage. The tree is one of the most ornamental mandarins available, carrying deep green foliage laden with bright, very deep orange fruit. Fruit are easy to peel with segments that separate easily and cleanly, and the tree crops very heavily. Bay Sunset ripens over winter into spring, stretching the mandarin season past the main winter glut, which places it Late on the relative NZ mandarin scale. Fruit is for fresh dessert eating; the breeder notes good eating quality across the Bay series. Grow in full sun in rich, moist, free-draining soil, feed through spring and summer, mulch clear of the trunk, and thin fruitlets in heavy years to protect branches and keep bearing regular.