Plants of the Week:

TRIED & TRUE LEMONS FOR HAMPTON ROADS

We love lemon so much, we couldn’t select just one ‘plant of the week’ this week… so you get TWO amazing plants! Tuck lemon plants around your house in containers this winter and enjoy their evergreen beauty, sweet fragrance and mouthwatering fruit! Once warm weather sets in, move your lemon plants outside and enjoy them all summer long. Most citrus is hardy to 38°F, but we recommend keeping them indoors until late sprint. Here’s a couple of our faves for Hampton Roads:

Meyer Lemon
A cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange, the Meyer lemon has a smooth golden, edible skin, and a high volume of juice but none of the bitterness of a regular lemon. This fruit adds a burst of lemon flavor without the sour bite. With a smooth, golden skin and lush, glossy leaves, this plant pulls double duty by yielding fruit and looking great. It produces small, fragrant flowers year round.

Ponderosa Lemon
A real conversation piece, the Ponderosa is a cross between lemon and citron. Sometimes called the Five Pound Lemon, the Ponderosa produces a gigantic, bumpy skinned lemon usually weighing 2-4 pounds! The flowers are intensely fragrant producing loads of huge lemons. Tasting sour like a typical lemon, the juice from one Ponderosa is enough for several pies.