Hey there! Been lurking here a few years, came across this article today detailing soviet experiments in cultivating Citrus north of the black sea. LOW←TECH MAGAZINE Now, some of these methods are extreme and (as noted) only viable in a world where free-trade wasn't quite global yet, but I'd be fascinated if any of these "creeping citrus" varietals still exist or if they've been lost since the fall of the USSR. Casual googling hasn't turned anything up yet.
If you read the article carefully, for the most part these were not special varieties. The plants were just guided in their growth and pruned to creep close to the ground. This isn't really anything that usual. Read up about espaliered fruit trees. The Soviets did also do some very interesting research into hybridizing hardy citrus varieties, and even creation of chimeras, but for the most part that article doesn't address these.
Do you speak Russian? If you do, then you may try to connect with Leonid Girlja or Irina Boldireva, mentioned in the article about growing citruses in the Sevastopol area: В Севастопольской теплице выращивают апельсины, мандарины и лимоны сорта «Пандероза» – Независимое телевидение Севастополя Or send email with your questions to info@sevsadovod.ru Главная - Союз Садоводов России Севастополь
You might also be interested in this: This tree is growing in the Nikita Botanical Garden in the Crimea. In the video, they refer to the fruits as "grapefruits", but someone else I am in contact with has confirmed that the tree is actually a "Ventura Lemandarin", which originated from a seed from a Taiwanica lemon that was pollinated by either Satsuma or Keraji (but probably more likely Satsuma, because of the bigger size of the fruits), from Mr. Ventura's yard in Virginia Beach (USA). The fruits of Ventura lemandarin is similar to Satsuma, but more sour, and full of lots of seeds. The Nikita Botanical Garden is in the equivalent of USDA climate zone 8b. Maybe almost on the border between 8b and 8a. (The Crimea of course was recently forcibly annexed by Russia in 2014, a very controversial situation)
