blakrab: Thanks for the tip on the Japanese Raisin Tree. That does look intriguing! From checking on a couple of websites, it appears to be drought tolerant and somewhat tolerant of alkalinity although it looks like it may stay a little smaller than I'd prefer. I lived in Japan for a number of years and didn't notice this one. I'll check into it further. gardener365: Thanks for the tips on the Montezuma Cypress and the Shantung Maple. I had been considering the Shantung "Fire Dragon" but wasn't sure if it might stay pretty small. If anyone has gotten some good growth out of these down here in the Austin/San Antonio area, I'd love to hear their successes. Aesthetically, I am not as crazy about the cypress as a tree for the yard, although I like them near water. scotjute: Yes, I am sure you are right that the soil conditions I have will limit the ultimate height of any tree that I plant. I hope to compensate as much as I can early on by top-dressing with compost the first few years. However the reality of a tree trying to grow into that limestone base underneath will kick in. That is a great idea about getting a native Pecan. I wonder if nurseries carry them? I haven't done a lot of searching yet, but they do all seem to be focused on carrying grafted varieties that are good at producing nice nuts. In my case, I really just like the look of a Pecan tree and don't really care what it produces just that it grow vigorously. Do you have any ideas where I can find a decent sized native Pecan down here? Burr Oaks sure do sound like nice trees but I am wanting to steer away from another Oak as I already have a Red Oak and several Live Oaks. It's too bad about those Bigtooth Maples being so finicky, I guess I don't really want to roll the dice and have one not do well. I am not as keen on the cedars although if I was going to get one, I suppose a nice stately Deodar would look good. There is a large grove of 15-20' tall Blue Atlas Cedars planted at the Bass Pro shop on I-10 just NW of San Antonio that look less than totally happy. I am guessing it is just too hot here in the summer for them to do well. Too bad though, since I love to plant one of them! dricha: I have seen Chinkapin Oaks and do like them too, I had not heard of Sierra Red Oak. Does it look or have growth habits that are greatly different than the standard Red Oak? Thanks for the heads up on Fanicks, they seem to be highly regarded. I'll head out there and have a look. lou_midlothian_tx : Thanks for the info on the cypress, they do seem to grow pretty rapidly. I've read some of your posts on growing Shantung and Bigtooth Maples. Your soil at your previous local looked pretty tough from your photos too. What are your thoughts on the ultimate size on the Shantung? I know your posts indicated that your trees were doing well, what sort of growth rates did you get? Mexican Sycamore and a native Pecan still look like pretty good bets for me based on what I am hearing and my preferences. You all please let me know if you have any other suggestions. Thanks!

Since it was sold as a lemon, I would be willing to bet a good chunk that's what it is. Certainly not enough evidence to the contrary at this point. The purple tinged theory obviously is not a reliable indicator. I've never seen it on my lemons either, and it probably has to do with differences in light levels. If you're still really eager to ID this thing before it flowers/fruits, grab a magnifying glass and go through the citrus key at the website below. Leaf and twig morphology just might be enough to be sure of what it is. http://idtools.org/id/citrus/citrusid/

Off the top of my head: Sanguinelli Blood, Tarocco, Moro, Budd Blood, Smith Red, Vaniglia Sanguigno, Valentine(Pumello), Red Vaencia, and Cara Cara (lycopene). I mighthave a couple more that I am not remembering and I have multiples of some and a few Moro and Tarocco from seed. I think they all have gotten fruitlets and several have developed mature fruit but they are all still small trees so not a huge amount of fruit yet. I was hoping for a lot of fruit this year as the trees have been doing well even after the greenhouse overheat in April, but something keeps eating or stealing the fruit when they get about 2 inches in diameter. It is quite frustrating. I never had problems other years so it must be something new to my yard. I have chipmunks for the first time this year, but the fruit seem to large for them to take. I had a second Tarocco, but it died suddenly for no reason I could ever figure out. It's twin is still doing fine and they were next to each other in the greenhouse when the one started dying almost overnight. I had a cocktail grapefruit/pumelo die like that also. I am wondering if that is a rootstock compatibility issue when that happens or maybe the graft fails. The Cocktail made 5 ripe fruit last winter and suddenly died overnight. It had fruited at least twice before that and was a strong grower. It was one of my largest trees. Again, I don't know why it died. It did not seem to be prone to scale, spider mites, aphids or other bugs. The rootstock still looks alive, but it has not sprouted at all. I have been waiting all summer. The Tarocco rootstock sprouted some kind of trifoliate and I now have a fairly large tree to graft onto when I get brave enough and find the time to try grafting. Some trees are real scale magnets,but these were not. Cory

Thanks Hibiscus, the hose is a good idea will give that a try. Alanna, I will use the warm water soak as well and I definitely will not attempt until I can go from start to finish. Thanks. Oh and PacNorWreck, I did a quick google after posting and found some of the info you are speaking of especially as it relates to bees. I don't know if it was applied to the plant or if it is a systematic thing. I hope giving it an extended hose will maybe help if it was sprayed on. Thanks for the link. Thanks tropicofcancer for that hook idea. I do have and old paint roller handle so I will try to fashion one from it. With so much input and so many great ideas which I had no clue of, I can approach this with a lot more confidence. Thank everyone so much.