Meyer's lemon

Meyer's lemon is a compact, shrubby citrus, Citrus x meyeri, brought from China in 1908 by USDA plant explorer Frank Meyer and thought to be a cross between a lemon and a sweet orange. Glossy leaves, fragrant white flowers, and smooth thin-skinned fruit ripening yellow orange make it ornamental as well as useful, with juice sweeter than a true lemon. Give it full sun and well-drained sandy or loamy soil, watering deeply once the top inch dries and never letting roots sit wet. It grows in USDA zones 8b to 11, takes cold better than other lemons and limes, and grows throughout Florida with protection below 20 degrees F. Trees reach 6 to 10 feet tall and 4 to 8 feet wide, flower year round with a spring peak, and ripen fruit mainly from fall into winter. Trees sold today are 'Improved Meyer', a virus-free selection from the 1970s.