I have a Alstonville green and a Mia Rose , no fruit yet

I have green and red. No fruit yet. Can't wait. Cool looking tree. Thorny as hell!

Yeah...the little branches mine have are VERY thorny. I don't know which I have.

It sounds so cool. I'm drawn to thorny plants (just bought a big opuntia)

Got one. So far so good

I found out...the first one I got is green and I got a new one, which is red - they both are growing very well. Tiny leaves and very thorny, but attractive. No fruit yet.

I have a red one

Here's mine

foliage is tiny, thorns wicked but I couldn't get good pic of thorns w/phone

Hey Laura!

I just discovered this: http://www.homecitrusgrowers.co.uk/australiannativecitrus/bloodlime.html

I want one!

Vladimir, that is the one I mentioned a few weeks ago that I am interested in. Looks and sounds real cool, right? Now to hunt one down here in the states! Or, who will be the first citrus grower to carry it!?? I will be watching for this one!! :D

this is from whom I got mine

http://www.ebay.com/usr/ozifingerlime1

Yes Vladimir and Jinny.,..right up my alley!! I wonder how long till we can get one of those here...?? I love having such interesting citrus varieties. An aside...we got solar panels for my house recently. When the inspection was taking place, my mom noticed that the solar guys and the city inspector were looking around at my trees fascinated! She said they were in awe of the lemons and, of course, the massive Ponderosa lemon. I was not home, but it was nice to hear ;-)

Wow! You ordered it from Australia?

yes

Bossy, you did not get a blood lime form them, did you?

no, why do you ask

bossy - that's goodnews n maybe u got lucky as well . I have noticed this vendor on ebay n he has great reviews but doesnt ship with a phyto sanitary so if it gets flagged by customs it's sure to be destroyed. always wondered if any1 received without customs issues.

Laura- I checked with this vendor he doesn't have blood lime but does have fingerlime varieties we don't get in NA

Isn't it illegal to order trees from outside the US though?

Well, if you report me I will not invite you to eat the fish I plan to decorate w/my citrus caviar.

Finger Limes are amazing!! Though I might just be biased because I am an Aussie :P Blood Limes are a Finger Lime hybrid (crossed with a mandarin), I'm currently waiting on my local nursery to get some in. The fruits from those are tiny (1.5" x 0.7"), but it fruits to no end :) plus the pink flowers are really pretty!!!

Thanks Trina! I would love to find some of those! Bossy...no worries from me!

Trina, how do the blood limes taste and what are their mouth feel?

Yes, pelease do tell Trina! Bossy, frankly, I am amazed that a tiny tree would survive the trip from the other side of the world. I was stressed about mine arriving from California...I'd be a head case...lol!

It is ILLEGAL to import plants w/o documentation. I started thinking that I know better but I let plant greed overrule. So I did some research last night and found the number of the plant inspection station for Houston area.

Just finished conversation with an inspector and they will be coming to my house to inspect plant, make records of it for their database and give me import information. There is a slight risk that plant may be confiscated if sickly but I know it is healthy so not too worried but prepared..... I feel a little better but will feel even more so once they visit me. I may have them look at my other citrus, for good measure.

Laura, my tree was about 8-10", bare root and came in a padded envelope. It's grown about 6" already, see pic above

Bossy, I'm sure it will be fine. For your peace of mind, it's good you will have the inspection. I wish we had more varieties available here.

Guy is from USDA Coming @ 2pm today. can't wait. He said he'd look over my citruses for greening disease signs. I am not worried or suspect problems but why not use him while he's here, right?

Vladimir and Laura: Blood Limes are quite acidic, I'd put it on about the same level as a Mandarin Lime but I hear it's also similar to the Key Lime (I haven't eaten one fresh so I can't comment). The Blood Limes that I have had were grown in the middle of one of our droughts and were quite stringy and didn't have much juice (but neither did any of my citrus that year). You can eat the skin of the fruit, but I didn't feel the need to then, though I would give it a shot when I grow them :P

Bossy, how did it go? Trina, I suspect they work wonders on fish as a little topping...

Sorry, I've been busy. The visit went very well. The young man knows his stuff, genuinely cares about the good health and integrity of gardens, commercial and residential and likes his job. First we went over documentation. Regulations require that buyers (us) obtain a permit to get a plant from overseas AS WELL AS requiring that seller has a phyto certif. or some agreement with USDA. The Netherlands, for ex., has such agreement. That is why you can go to tourist shops there and bring back the bulbs they sell. But technically, you should have permit in your wallet and declare those things when going thru customs.

You can get permission up to 12 of certain plants in your luggage, again, need permit to do that and declare. Not all plants, there is a list.

You go to USDA website and search permit PPQ Form 587 and it will tell you what all you need to do.

As to my plant, he said that technically he should have confiscated but didn't. However, he asked me to report of any problems with plant. I said yes and considered it a solemn promise to him. There will be a record of my visit, what I purchased/planted, from whom, etc.

As to my other citruses, other than aphids, there were all in good health though he did take several pics of a branch on mi Lisbon Lemon. He noticed something unusual and said he'd contact me if problems.

I feel better but it will be much simpler if I just buy stuff here, by the rule. Easier said than done where my taste for the exotic rears its ugly head.....

Sorry to resurrect a older thread, but I've decided I want to get a AFL and want to know where in the US people have ordered from with success and a decent plant health? I'd really love to have a Green and a Red. I was looking at Just Fruits and Exotics and was really excited until I realized that they don't ship outside of Florida. :/

Laura, Where did your order yours from?

Sammers, I don't meant to hijack your question for Laura, but I wanted to chime in just in case Laura has another source. I know that Logees has some ON SALE right now and Four Winds Growers also sells them. I can't say about their health and success as I have not ordered citrus from them.

Figs, not Hijacking at all. I eager for as much input as possible. I checked four winds and they have a Green "entry" level tree but I was hoping for something closer to fruit bearing age. Does anyone know what age AFL usually start fruiting? I've googled but not gotten much luck and FW descriptions of trees are the same for every type which I assume isn't always accurate. I just checks out Logees at your recommendation and they have trees that come in 4" pots, I assume that is similar in age to the FW trees but don't know since they don't have age listed. I may just have to suck it up and order a younger tree and put in the time.

Sammers, I got my green one from Stan McKenzie (but I think it was the last one). If FW has them, I'd get one from them. I got my red one from Logees.

I just ordered mine from Raintree.com - it will arrive mid April, for my zone. First I heard of them, but it looks fantastic. I think it comes at 2-3 years growth in a pot. (Ordered to my current zone 6 home in CT, will move it a few weeks later up to zone 5 MA.)

It wasn't easy but I rooted some cuttings mailed to me in the states. I also have one from seed that is slowing growing in. You guys can find most colors of finger limes these days but a lot of sellers are selling them grafted as well so know which you're getting. They don't have big thorns but they're needle sharp and can really scratch you up. Almost worse than cacti :)