Citrus Varieties & More

Text: For the Love of Citrus with 3 image closeups: lemons, limes with flowers, and oranges each on trees

There's Nothing Like Citrus!

Do you enjoy the taste of fresh citrus—whether juiced, eaten raw, or added as an ingredient in your favorite dish or drink? Citrus and fruit trees can be a beautiful, tasty and nutritious addition to your edible garden.

At SummerWinds Nursery, we have a number of citrus tree varieties to choose from—available seasonally while supplies last.

Our Citrus Trees Closeup of potted dwarf citrus tree

Select varieties available in the following sizes:

  • 5 gallon - 2 to 3 years old
  • 15 gallon - 3 to 5 years old
  • 24 inch boxed tree - 5 to 6 years old
  • Semi-dwarf sizes and standard sizes available in select varieties only
Sizes and selection varies by location and is available seasonally, while supplies last. Contact your local SummerWinds Nursery with questions about current availability, specific varieties or sizes. 

Citrus Fruits

Half of a blood orange on a wood taben with plant leaves and half of a regular orange in the left corner

Oranges

Who doesn't love a tasty orange? We have a number of delicious varieties to choose from:

  • Navel - the most popular eaten orange in the U.S. Sweet and hardy. (1)
  • Cara Cara - This navel orange is sometimes called a pink or red navel. Very sweet with a hint of a complex berry flavor. (1)
  • Blood - Deep red flesh contains a high level of anthocyanins (antioxidants) that are not found in most oranges. Sweetish with a raspberry like flavor. (1)
  • Arizona Sweets - This name can refer to a number of sweet orange varieties, including 'Diller', 'Hamlin', 'Marrs', 'Pineapple' or 'Trovita'. Each has its own unique flavor characteristics. (3)
  • Hamlin - An early-season sweet variety with medium size fruit and 0-6 total seeds. (3)
  • Trovita - This variety produces heavy crops in the desert heat. Excellent sweet flavor; great for juicing or eating. Medium to large fruit with 6-10 total seeds per fruit. (2 & 3)

2 images: left - golden nugget mandarine oranges in a bowl, and right - celmentines in a wooden box on a wood table

Mandarins / Tangerines

There are a number of easy-to-peel and tasty varieties that grow well in the Valley:

  • Tango - Excellent for use in numerous culinary recipes and drinks. These medium-size fruits have a squat shape and a smooth, easy-to-peel rind, and juicy, seedless flesh with a sweet-tart flavor. (7)
  • Golden Nugget - A sweet, rich, full tangerine flavor is packed into a juicy fruit with a very bumpy, easy-to-peel, deep-orange rind. (8)
  • Kinnow - A popular late-season mandarin that is very sweet when ripe and is reminiscent of mandarin beverages. Medium size fruit that can have many seeds. (3)
  • Clementine - A hybrid of a sweet orange and a mandarin. Seedless and very small and sweet with wonderfully loose skin that peels easily for easy eating. (1)
  • Freemont - Medium-sized, bright orange oblate fruit with smooth, fairly thin skin that's easy to peel. Juicy with few seeds and an intensely sweet, slightly acidic flavor. Excellent on their own or in recipes. (9)
  • Daisy - A wonderful early-season mandarin that is re/orange in color and very sweet. Fruit is medium to large in size and contains 0-5 total seeds. (3)

A close up of key limes growing on a tree

Limes

Limes are delicious and can be used in a wide number of recipes for food and drinks. Note: limes are very frost sensitive and require protection from frost. (3)

  • Mexican lime - Also known as a 'Key Lime', this small fruit ripens in September and is prized for its flavor. Often used in pies and other culinary endeavors. (3)
  • Bearss lime - Also known as a 'Tahiti' or 'Persian' lime, it is slightly larger than a 'Key Lime' and ripens in June. (3)

3 images of lemons: top - meyer lemons, left - Lisbon lemons, and right - pink Eureka lemons

Lemons

Lemons have many domestic and culinary uses. (3)

  • Improved Meyer Lemon - A cross between a mandarin orange and a lemon, it was originally used as a decorative houseplant. Offers a burst of lemon flavor without the acidic bite other lemons can have. It is aromatic, slightly sweet and excellent in desserts, sauces, salads, roasts and more. It is juicy with an edible rind and bright, golden yellow skin. (4)
  • Eureka - A rougher rind and more rigid fruit that grows on a thorn-less tree. A smaller, less pronounced nipple. More frost sensitive. (3)
  • Lisbon - Medium sized with a prominent nipple and a smoother rind than the 'Eureka'. (3)
  • Variegated Pink Eureka Lemon - Sparkling variegated leaves and pinkish new growth backs this large, vigorous, bright yellow juicy fruit. (6)

2 images: Ruby Red Grapefruits and Oro Blanco Grapefruits

Grapefruit

Grapefruit is typically categorized as either white or red. Did you know that white grapefruit can be as sweet as red? Yum!

  • Rio Red - Red-tinted skin covers this large, dark-fleshed fruit that is easy to peel and has few seeds. Harvest can last from December until July. (3)
  • Ruby Red - Also known as 'Redblush', this variety boasts large fruit with few seeds (0-6). Internally the fruit grows from light pink to golden in the spring. Can be harvested as early as December. However, the fruit becomes more delicious the longer it remains on the tree. (3)
  • Oro Blanco - This grapefruit-pummelo hybrid is more grapefruit than pummelo. Its as large as a grapefruit but with a peel that is a little thicker. The fruit is less acidic and has more sugar than a grapefruit with a flavor palette that is reminiscent of the pummelo. (3)

2 images: tangelos and limequats

Other Citrus Trees

  • Limequat - A hybrid of a lime and a kumquat with fruit that is characteristic of a kumquat but with a small neck. Can be used a substitute for a lime as a condiment. (3)
  • Tangelo - Hybrid from a mandarin and a grapefruit or pummelo. (3)
  • Sour Orange - Round, oblate or oblong-oval in shape, the fruit is rough-surfaced with a fairly thick, aromatic, bitter peel that becomes bright reddish-orange upon maturity. Has strongly acidic pulp and can range from a few to many seeds. (5)

Your local SummerWinds Nursery also offers a wide variety of tropical fruits, which includes some additional citrus varieties. Learn more!


A variety of citrus fruits, isolated on white with the text

Fertilize Your Citrus Trees & Shrubs

We recommend fertilizing your citrus three times a year—in September, February and May.

Click the buttons below to learn more about citrus:

Citrus Feeding Time Citrus Tree Care Semi-Dwarf Citrus Trees
At SummerWinds Nursery, our experts are ready to answer all of your citrus tree questions.  Stop by today and find the perfect citrus tree for your garden with the help of one of our Trusted Garden Advisors

Planting a Tree?

Watch our video to learn how to do it like the pros!

This video will show you the basics to planting trees, shrubs and more. We will focus on trees but the same can apply to shrubs, perennials and more. With these simple steps, you can successfully plant your next garden.

Sources: (1) https://modernfarmer.com/2018/02/orange-varieties/ (2)https://www.monrovia.com/plant-catalog/plants/873/trovita-orange/ (3) https://extension.arizona.edu/sites/extension.arizona.edu/files/pubs/az1001.pdf (4) https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100778147 (5)https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/sour_orange.html (6) https://www.monrovia.com/plant-catalog/plants/802/pink-variegated-eureka-lemon/ (7) https://www.specialtyproduce.com/produce/Tango_Tangerines_10236.php (8)http://www.shockinglydelicious.com/introducing-gold-nugget-tangerines/ (9) https://www.specialtyproduce.com/produce/Fremont_Tangerines_11838.php 

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