University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Making a Difference for California http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu Publication 8472 | November 2011 Tried and True or Something New? Selected Citrus Varieties for the Home Gardener TONI SIEBERT, Museum Scientist, and TRACY L. KAHN, Principal Museum Scientist, UC Riverside Citrus Variety Collection, Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, University of California, Riverside. G rowing citrus in your own backyard can be both enjoyable and rewarding! Beautiful green foliage, fragrant blossoms, and delicious, healthful fresh fruit readily available at your doorstep make citrus excellent garden trees. Many California homeowners have limited garden space and must be selective about which varieties to grow. You can choose a citrus variety according to the climate in your area, the amount of fruit you would like to eat (planting ten lemon trees may not be such a great idea), or you can save money by planting the types you like to eat that are the most costly at your grocery store. While this guide provides ripening season information for Riverside, California, gardeners have had success with citrus in many diferent regions of California where subtropical climatic conditions occur. For example, the milder climate in coastal areas can cause citrus trees to yield a crop about a month later than they would in inland valleys. In desert regions, on the other hand, trees can produce citrus fruit about a month earlier than in inland valleys due to high temperatures and low humidity. Within each climatic area, there can also be mesoclimates infuenced by sun, wind, and frost exposure. In addition, diferent citrus types are suited to diferent regions, produce mature fruit at diferent times of year, and produce fruit at diferent levels of quality. Blood oranges tend not to have good color in mild coastal regions that do not have diurnal temperature changes, but lemons do well there, producing two crops per season. Te fesh of early season mandarins tends to become dry under the high temperatures and low humidity of the desert regions, but grapefruit have high heat requirements and do well there.