What are these orange trees?

Do we have orange trees in Minnesota?

Yes, kind of, we do have trees in Minnesota that are orange.  However, they are hawthorn trees that have turned orange due to a non-harmful disease called quince rust.  Some refer to the disease as cedar apple rust but that’s a little different.  Quince rust infects the hawthorn fruit when it sporolates a fine orange dust falls onto the leaves and anything else under the tree.  On one site the dust fell onto a driveway, when it rained orange soup was rolling down the driveway.  On another property the dust covered their brand new porch.  The only control we are aware of is spraying with a fungicide prophylactically next spring.

Photo credit: James Bade, Golf Course Superintendent at Somerset