Gatormomx2: I'm not personally re-considering planting citrus because of the freezes. My pink variegated (eureka) lemon and Persian lime took heavy damage this year despite them being covered, and it's probably too early to tell whether or not they're going to die, but I knew that it would be a challenge to keep them alive when I bought them. A couple meyer's lemons also took some damage, surprisingly (especially considering the ponderosa lemon didn't take any damage), but they look like they're going to pull through. Also, my hamlin orange took quite a bit of damage. If you have just a few trees, it would be easy to put up something to block the wind over it, cover the grafted area, and maybe put a light on it, but I have over 20 citrus and will probably have closer to 25 or 30 when I'm done in the next 1-2 years. One of my biggest challenges is actually living in a swampy area. So, citrus can only be planted in somewhat raised areas on the property. I had a meyer's lemon planted where water sits at least twice a year, and it died because of it. If the tree would have been a bit older and the roots have settled more, it probably would have survived, because we also have some 25+ year old citrus that stay in standing water every few years and do fine. Peaches, blueberries, nectarines, and eucalyptus trees are out as well. Everything is just a big experiment here. There are also some types of trees that would technically do fine in the heat, humidity, and USDA zone but they are harder because of the late spring freezes we get. You wouldn't believe how much trouble I've had trying to get a swamp mayhaw tree to survive here. These things grow wild in the swamps of Georgia, and for the first two years, I had to deal with too much water, too little water, and then a late spring freeze that took it all the way down to the ground, despite it being able to take like 0-5 degrees in Northern states. I thought it was dead, but eventually, it came up and has done well ever since. I've talked to a few other people who have tried mayhaws here and said they usually died and never came back. It's only about 7' now and hasn't produced yet. I know that Mayhaws aren't citrus, but there is a point about our weather. With our weather going from 70 degrees one day to 23-30 the next, and the fluctuations of hot and cold so frequently, it can trick fruiting plants to bloom early, put excess stress on the plants, etc. Mix that with our drenching rains that come for days/weeks at a time, and then our droughts that last as long, if not longer. Some one needs to hybridize a desert cactus with a waterlily, just for the Florida market. LOL

Can we see a photo of the whole tree; and especially the base and close-ups of what you think are the grafts? How many "trunks" are coming out of the pot? I ask because HD often sells "cocktail citrus" that are actually multiple trees in one pot. The main problem with true cocktail citrus is that the different varieties have different needs in terms of fertilizer and sometimes water and light. If you care for any one of the varieties in the perfect manner, the others will often suffer. Anyway, good luck now that you have it; and the spots on the leaves look like dust that was "concentrated" by rain...not to worry; if you want you might wash the leaves with the hose.

This is an update to my 2006 list. We've added many more varities and most things are fruiting now. FRUIT & SPICE TREES Acai Palm Allspice Ambarella Apple Anna Apple Dorset Golden Atemoya Gefner Grafted Avacado Haas Avacado Fuerte Banana Bay Rum Blackberry Black Sapote Seedless Black Walnut Blueberry Blueberry Gulf Coast Blueberry Sharp Blueberry Windsor Cocao Calomondin Camellia Sinesis, Tea Cashew Apple Cercropia Cherry Black Grafted Surinam Cherry Grumichama Cherry Rio Grand Cherry Barbados Cherry Dwarf Barbados Chestnut Malibar Cinnamon Coffee Dragon Fruit Eucalyptus Eugenia Confusa Fig Brown Turkey Fig Green Isha Fig Kadota Goji Berry Grapefruit Pink Grapefruit Yellow Grapes Bunch Grapes Muscadine Guave Chattey Guava Pineaple Guava Ruby Guava Strawberry Guava Jaboticaba Joy Perfume Michelia Champaca Jujube Katok Kiwi Tomuri m&f Lemon Harvey Lemon Sambukan Lemon Varigated Pink Lime Key Lime Kaffir Lime Persian Lime Red Longan Kahola Loquat Lychee Hakip Lychee Maritius Mango Mango Carrie MANGOSTEEN Michelia Alba Michela Champaca Miracle Fruit Mombin Red Monstera Deliciosa Moringa (Horseradish Tree) Mulberry Dwarf Mulberry Shangrila Natal Plum Nectarine Sun Raycer Neem Olive Fremtoya Orange Orange Dwarf Navel Orange Red Blood Orange Ortanique Orange Tarocco Blood Papaya Passionfruit Yellow Peach Red Cylon Peach Tropic Beauty Peanut Butter Fruit Pear Pear Pineapple Persimmon Ichibe Juro Persimmon Triumph Pineapple, Golden Pistachio Plantain Plum Gulf Rose Pomegranate Dwarf Pomegranate Vietnamese Rambutan Rose Apple Spanish Lime Strawberry Strawberry Tree Sugar Cane Tamarind Tangelo Tangerine Murcott Tangerine Satsuma Wax Jambu Thai Red Sunset White Sapote Yerba Mate HERBS Allheal Alow Arnica Montana Anise hyssop Bacopa Bacopa, Lemon Basils, Greek Columnar, Lemon, Lettuce Leaf, Lime, Sweet Bay Tree Bay Rum Bergamot (Monarda) Betel Betony Borage Calendula Camelia sinesis Caper bush Cardamom Catnip Chives, Garlic & Onion Cilantro Comfrey Coriander Culantro Curry Plant Daisy Dill, Boquet & Fernleaf Echinacea Fennel, Bronze & Sweet Feverfew Fuschia Galangal True Gardenia Garlic Society Geranium, Apple, Citronella, Lemon Sculpture, Rose Ginger Ginkgo Goji Berries Gotu kola Greek mountain tea Gynura Henna Hibiscus, Edible & False Roselle Honeysuckle Horseradish Jasmine Arabian Tea & Confederate Lambs Ear Lavender Lemon balm Lemon grass Lemon verbena LionÂs tail Marjoram Marshmallow Mint, Apple, Berries & Cream, Blackberry, Chocolate, Citrus kitchen, Corsican, Costa rican Kama Sutra, Cotton candy, English, Grapefruit, Hazelnut, Italian spice, JimÂs Fruit, Lavender. Lemon sweet, Margarita, MarilynÂs Salad, Mojito, Mountain, Orange Bergamot Oregano thyme, Pennyroyal, Spearmint, Sweet pear, Wintergreen, Yerba buena Monarda Moujean tea/Bahama Berry/Pineapple Verbena Mullein Murraya koeniggi Myrtle greek Nasturtium Oregano, Cuban, Italian, Mexican Pandanus Amaryllifolius Papalo Parsley, Curled & Flat Leaf Pepper, Black Pepper Vine, Chili, Habernero, Jalapeno, Ornamental, Red Pepper Vine, Tabasco Perilla Purslane Root beer plant Rose, Bon Silene Tea, Champneys pink cluster, Climbing don juan, Double red, Moanne lombard, Red cascade, Safrano, Treasure blend hybrid Rosemary, Romero, Spice island, Victorian Sage, Common, Diviners, Grape scented, Mexican, Pineapple Savory Spice bush, Lindera Benzoin Spilanthese Spinach, Malabar & Okinawa Star anise Stevia St johns wort Sugar cane Sushini Sweet almond verbena Tarragon Tea olive Thyme, English, Lemon Tilo Tomatoes Turmeric Violet sweet Yarrow Yerba mate Zaatar Zuta levana WATER PLANTS Bacopa, lemon Cattail Celer, water Chestnut, water Mint, water I'm working on a website with photos of our property in all stages of bloom and slowly working on a book for zone 9 edible gardening. We've had luck with almost everything we've tried. I'm happy to answer any questions about growing in tropical zones. Happy growing, Kelly

Hello everyone, Today I had to go to Buffalo and get my staples out from my back surgery. Boy am I happy those suckers are out! Now my abdomen can heal. Anyways stopped at a Wegmans and went to check out there produce. They had HUGE pummelos but they were $3.99 each! I was not paying that much but guess what was right next to them! Cocktail grapefruits! I could tell they were a lil pass there prime so I grabbed the 3 that looked the best. I couldn't wait to get home so I peeled it in the car and ate it. My first thought was that is was very sweet and juicy but it did have a fair amount of seeds. I didn't complain. The flesh was light orange and it did have a faint bitterness to it. I wonder if the bitterness comes with the fruit being past its prime. No matter to me, it is a definate keeper. I have a new favorite grapefruit!! I will say that the fruits are smaller then grapefruit at least the ones I bought. I would say they were the size of a medium navel. I will take a picture of the one fruit I have left. I am happy that I decided to go with this fruit tree instead! Andrew