City of Corona
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Oct. 20th: Local Lemon Tree 🍋 Gets New Life After More Than 100 Years
- Date: 10/20/2018 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
- Location: Joy Park
S Joy St
Corona, California 92879
When Corona was founded in 1886 there was a sense of urgency to plant orange trees because they needed 4 to 5 years to mature and produce a good crop. Locals learned that Corona’s climate, minimal competition, and abundant growth cycles made lemons a much better investment. In no time, Corona became the “Lemon Capital of the World.” At one point, the City was home to 7,500 acres of citrus, producing 30,000 cases of fruit daily.
Just in case you thought lemons were a thing of Corona’s past, the City and several partners are determined to give one lemon tree new life.
Early Corona pioneer A.J. Ware built his home on Main Street in 1892 and planted a lemon tree in the backyard. Ware’s house is still standing and the current owners, the McCarroll family, have approved a cutting from that old lemon tree be grafted into in a new tree that was planted at Joy Park last March as part of the City’s Arbor Day celebration.
Arborists have determined the new tree is rooted and ready for the graft. The community is invited to Joy Park, located at Joy Street and East Grand Boulevard, to see Corona’s past joined with her future this Saturday, October 20, at 9:00 a.m.
For more information about the historic lemon tree graft, please call the Library and Recreation Services Department at 951-736-2241.