Other Names:  Lemon Drop Citrus Bush

Description:

A vigorous large shrub, or small tree that is a hybrid of lemon and kumquat; white fragrant flowers with streaks of magenta from spring to summer, producing 3 inch edible fruit that is excellent for marmalade

Edible Qualities

Lemon Drop Lemonquat is a small tree that is commonly grown for its edible qualities, although it does have ornamental merits as well. It produces yellow round fruit with a orange blush which are typically harvested when mature. The fruits have a tart taste.

The fruit are most often used in the following ways:

• Cooking
• Preserves
• Juice-Making

Features & Attributes

Lemon Drop Lemonquat features showy clusters of fragrant white star-shaped flowers with buttery yellow eyes and fuchsia streaks at the ends of the branches from early spring to early summer. It has attractive dark green evergreen foliage. The glossy oval leaves are highly ornamental and remain dark green throughout the winter. It features an abundance of magnificent yellow berries with orange blush from mid winter to early spring.

This is a multi-stemmed evergreen tree with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition. This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and is best pruned in late winter once the threat of extreme cold has passed. It is a good choice for attracting birds, bees and butterflies to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Aside from its primary use as an edible, Lemon Drop Lemonquat is sutiable for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Hedges/Screening
• General Garden Use
• Orchard/Edible Landscaping
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Lemon Drop Lemonquat will grow to be about 20 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 15 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of 2 feet from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 50 years or more.

This tree is quite ornamental as well as edible, and is as much at home in a landscape or flower garden as it is in a designated edibles garden. It does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.

Lemon Drop Lemonquat is a good choice for the edible garden, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. Its large size and upright habit of growth lend it for use as a solitary accent, or in a composition surrounded by smaller plants around the base and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.