I like them. The company that originally released them had them on their own root rather than on a trifoliate root stock. On its own root its cold resistance does not seem to be better than other satsumas, but my hunch is that the original research that made the breeder think theses Texas Frost varieties were more cold resistant were don on trees grafted onto trifoliate. The Arctic and Orange Frosts that I’m seeing in garden centers this year are all on trifoliate. Those may be more cold hardy. People will have to experiment with them for us to know for sure.
The fruit quality is pretty good when they are very ripe. There is a bit of an off putting smell to the peals especially when they are not quite ripe. They are ripe enough for me much later than the write-ups by the marketers imply. They are really ready here in Statesboro Georgia at around thanksgiving time. They grew faster and have so far been more productive than the Brown Select and Owari satsumas planted at the same time, so I’m pleased with them. In my view the best citrus to come out of that Texas Frost series is the Lemon Frost, and it’s by far the hardest one to find. That is a delicious sweet lemon / satsuma with a lemony flavor and the sweetness similar to a grapefruit. They look and peal like satsumas. The peals have a very strong lime smell and make great zest and potpourri.
