Hi Guys- I live in North Berkeley and all the plants in one of my raised beds look exactly like Irene's. What stinks is that I had first planted two plants from Spiral Gardens Nursery, who grow their own starts, and those did great, even in all the rain we got. Then I planted three plants that I got from Forni-Brown Nursery in Calistoga, which I am almost certain they grow their own starts (they sell mostly to the local restaurants in Napa Valley), and those did great. Then two weeks after that I went to Berkeley Hort and bought more plants, including some sourced from Sweetwater Nursery. While at Berkeley Hort I came across a Mortgage Lifter from Sweetwater, noticed that it was spotted, and brought it to the attention of a sales guy at Berkeley Hort and asked him if there were problems. He very patiently explained the "cold damage" and I believed him. Normally I'm totally paranoid, but I have shopped at Berkeley Hort for five years and never had any problems with plants there, and I consider their staff to be top notch. I also have bought lots of stuff from Sweetwater without a problem in the past. So I thought I should get over my paranoia and went ahead and got some plants there, including that spotty Mortgage Lifter. Planted those, rains came, and a week later, EVERYTHING in that bed had spots on them. Obviously this is all just my observations, but the bottom line is, I should have gone with my instinct and just left that Mortgage Lifter alone. Now it's a waiting game. I finally got to the point of not stripping any more leaves, even if spotted. It's now an experiment. The new growth has been pretty normal, no spots. I've drenched with Serenade twice, but it's expensive, so I've been using a baking soda/oil/castile soap "natural fungicide)" concoction. I can't tell if it's helping or if it's the dry weather that has slowed the leaf spots. I imagine that if I get more fruit set, the plants will only stress and get worse, and who knows if anything will properly ripen. I'm just hoping to get even a small harvest. We'll see. Good luck to you guys and hoping for the best for everyone!

Also known as a limetta. Very typical shape. They peel much more easily than a lemon. Quite refreshing, sometimes with a slightly floral aftertaste. Children seem to particularly like them. Mostly grown in Tunisia/Algeria/Morocco.

Don't be offended, but the "Guaranteed analysis" of:Total Nitrogen (N) 0.01%, Water Soluble Nitrogen Soluble Potash (K20) 0.01%, Calcium (Ca) 2% puts the product high in the upper tier of products least likely to benefit your plant or help you succeed. It contains essentially nothing (1/10 0f 1 % nitrogen and potassium oxide is a miniscule amount) in the way of nutrients other than a little calcium, that if applied without including an appropriate amount of magnesium can induce an antagonistic magnesium deficiency. People have various views about how and when to fertilize because (easily) 99% of hobby growers have no idea how to take and keep control of nutrient management for their plants. What you fertilize with is important. It's essential that plants have all nutrients they normally take from the soil in the soil and available for uptake at all times. Most fertilizers don't allow you to accomplish that without using other products to supplement the primary source of nutrients. That's a headache and often doesn't end well. Also, your soil choice and watering habits are primary considerations in determining when it's appropriate to fertilize. E.g., if you're using a water retentive soil and are watering in sips, it might not be appropriate to fertilize AT ALL, from the period from mid fall through mid spring for fear the level of salts in the soil will rise to concentrations so high it makes it hard for the plant to take up water; but, if you use a highly aerated, fast draining soil that you're flushing every time you water, it's entirely appropriate to fertilize at low concentrations every time you water, which is what I do. I use Foliage-Pro 9-3-6 because it has all the essential nutrients plants normally get from the soil, in the ratio at which the average plant actually USES the nutrients. This is a significant advantage because it helps prevent the badly skewed concentrations of nutrients that end up in your soil when using fertilizers that provide nutrients in a ratio not even close to that at which they are actually used. It's simple and has all plants need for normal growth in one solution. Al

It might have been cold damage if it was supplied from a source that was in a warmer area and then exposed to cold temperatures, but it might be sunburn if it was in a shade house or under the shadow of other plants and then was left out in full sun for a bit. It looks to me more like mechanical damage than disease. The only disease I've seen on lilacs has been powdery mildew and that has been on Syringa vulgaris, not Tinkerbelle (which is a cross between two other lilac species), so I wouldn't worry about disease, to be honest.