We’ve got Citrus to suit your every taste.
There are really very few smells that can compare with the smell of fresh citrus fruits. Every garden should have some citrus fruit as it not only attracts the birds but adds real value to any garden. We have stock of the following citrus fruit trees, so have a look and order online, or come and visit and select your favourite citrus tree from our varieties.
Sweet Lime
A lime that is sweet? Now that is very interesting. Most limes have a tart taste which is known for its pucker-inducing flavour. The sweet lime is thought to be a hybrid between the Mexican type lime and a sweet lemon or sweet citron. In French it is called, limettier doux. In Spanish, lima dulce. In India, mitha limbu, where mitha refers to sweet. Whatever you prefer to call them, sweet limes are truly a great addition to have in your garden.
Sweet limes are round citrus fruits with thin, finely textured skins. They start of green but turn into a bright yellow orangy colour often being confused with lemons. Sweet limes are very juicy and renowned for its concentration of vitamin c, making it the perfect snack. They are aromatic and have a low acidity making them much more preferred to that of standard limes.
The sweet lime tree can grow up to 8 metres tall with a brownish-grey bark and lots of long thorns, producing white flowers. The fruit are great to eat when ripe from the tree but make a great
Rough skin lemon
This is the oldest variety of lemon in South Africa, as its name is derived from its bumpy uneven, thick skinned yellow fruit. The fruit is oval of about 7-12 centimetres in length. The tree has an upright habit with a roundish crown growing to an average of 3-6 metres in height. Sharp thorns protect the fruit on the branches.
This lemon is sweeter than the usual commercially available lemons, but still have the usual sour tart lemon flavour and aroma, which makes an excellent lemon juice. Traditionally with school children in Kimberley, it made a delicious healthy snack as they were picked from the streets. The kids would peel the skins and sprinkle the lemons with salt and peri-peri (dried chilli powder), before eating them.
DID YOU KNOW?
- Citrus fruit are actually a kind of berry with a tough, leathery rind, known as a hesperidium.
- Most lemon trees live for about 50 years but they can live for more than 100 years.
- Lemons were once presented as gifts to kings because they were so rare.
- There are more than 600 different kinds of oranges.
- There are usually 10 segments inside an orange. Count them next time you eat an orange.
Valencia Orange
The Valencia orange is famous for being the juiciest and sweetest orange variety. The Valencia orange were named after the city of Valencia in Spain. In addition to culinary uses the blossoms of the Valencia orange trees are often used in bridal bouquets as a symbol of love, whereas the branches are also burned to flavour paella.
The Valencia orange tree is cold hardy and will grow to about 9-10 metres tall and 8-9 metres wide. Valencia oranges will turn green again after they ripen, especially if they are stored at room temperature. No need to worry though, as the peel is just absorbing the chorophyll. These oranges are sweet even when they are green.
Valencia oranges are medium to large in size of about 7-10 centimetres in diameter. The fruit have a golden orange colour with a rough leathery texture. They are also known as summer oranges. Add this to your garden and you will have plenty of oranges to pick, which are very juicy and sweet.
Palmer Navel
If you prefer an orange that is easier to peel with little or no seeds, then the palmer navel is the perfect tree for your garden. It has a rich juicy flavour which is delicious for eating out of hand. The fruit is large with a deep orange colour.
Navel oranges are aptly named, due to the protuberance at the blossom end of the fruit, which looks like a small belly button but is in actual fact a small embryonic fruit. The palmer orange tree can grow to a height of between 3 and 9 metres.
Nova Naartjie
If you prefer the sweet but smaller fruit like a naartjie, we also have the absolutely delicious nova naartjie available. This is a very firm naartjie which is slightly more difficult to peel but very sweet. The Nova Naartjie is a hybrid between a clementine mandarin and Orlando tangelo.
The fruits have a slightly pebbled reddish orange coloured skin with the flesh being dark orange, fine textured with a rich flavour. The nova naartjie tree can grow to a height of between 3-6 metres.
No matter what type of citrus fruit you prefer, they are all very nutritious and will surely add great appeal to any garden. So, if you prefer the easy snack of a naartjie or the juicier orange like the Valencia, make sure to log into our website and order your favourite fruit tree today.