Clementine 'Marie Jan' – Citrus × clementina

It all began in my childhood: with my mother, Marie-Jeanne, we used to buy fruit, vegetables and yoghurts at a cloister. Twenty years later, while visiting my in-laws, my wife and I decided to ask there for a few scions. In the car park, a clementine tree 5 to 6 m tall was waiting for us.

Sister Marie Jan told us its story: it had been sown by a sister who remains anonymous. It has withstood every recent cold snap, including those that froze the cloister's walls and pipes.

• Botanical name: Citrus × clementina, selection 'Marie Jan'
• Hardiness: down to −15 °C
• Fruit: medium-sized, orange skin, firm, juicy and very sweet flesh
• Ripening: December to March; left on the tree until May, it becomes very sweet
• Habit: large tree, up to 5 m tall and 3 m wide, productive

A unique variety

Clementines do not come true from seed: each pip gives a new tree. 'Marie Jan' is therefore a variety in its own right, which exists nowhere else and can only be propagated by grafting. Marie Jan, Marie-Jeanne, Genevey or the Arche clementine: you choose its nickname!

A nod from history

The clementine itself was born around 1892 near Oran, in the garden of Brother Marie-Clément, who gave it his name. More than a century later, a member of a religious order is once again behind 'Marie Jan'.

In the garden

Light, deep, well-drained soil, with compost in spring. Light pruning: remove dead wood and open up the centre to let in light. Like all young citrus, protect it during its first winters.

The plant you receive

You receive a young grafted tree about 40 cm tall above the pot, low-grafted onto a Poncirus trifoliata rootstock from our own production. Planted young, it roots straight into your garden soil and establishes better than a tree kept in a pot for years.

Because it is grafted low, the variety itself forms the trunk: the tree stands on its own without a stake and can regrow from above the graft after a severe frost. All our citrus trees are grown at 1,000 m altitude in the Livradois, never in a heated greenhouse, with organic fertiliser only.

Grafted trees are shipped from June; the rest of the year, you can pre-order them.