Has anyone tried growing lemon / lime or orange tree's outdoors in Northern Ireland, moving house and have a new garden in which I'd like to plant some of these types of trees.

If it's possible does anyone know where these tree's can be purchased locally ?

Thanks,
Mully

Raising from seed is not necessarily as bad as Flora says. Most citrus are in fact clonal (polyembronic seeds to use the correct expression) so they will be a replica of the parent tree. However, should you grow from a "non-polyembronic" seed (there is probably a proper word for that too)then you might or might not be lucky as fruit quality is variable. I have no idea how you can tell, maybe somewhere there is a varietal list that has the info. I also remember from my time in Australia that it was suggested the tangerine types could produce good fruit but with many seeds, although that info is hearsay. Old McDonald.

Still unsure about where is best to get them, in general they do not seem to be widely available here. Really interested in Orange / Lemon and Lime, anyone know any good spot on web ?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4381801182&ssPageName=MERC_VI_RSCC_Pr4_PcY_BID_Stores

Good Luck!

As to growing Citrus out of doors, 'Meyer' is a good and relatively hardy lemon for sheltered spots and in some years can produce very acceptable crops. Hardiness-wise, they can cope with an occasional minus 5C and have no problems with minus 1 or 2C. True limes are quite frost tender and aren't really worth trying unless you bring them indoors for the colder months. A few oranges such as 'Valancia' can be persuaded to grow well outside in warm areas (I've had one out for 5 or 6 years without problems), but the quality of the fruit is poor and they are solely of ornamental value. Mandarins and Satsumas can be OK especially if you can get the flowering sychronised so that they complete their ripening during the summer and warmer autumn months.

Related to Citrus proper and well worth a try in warm gardens with only the occasional light frost are the Kumquats - Fortunella sp. They are very ornamental, compact growers and can produce reasonable quality fruit in a good summer. The Nagami Kumquat (Fortunella margarita) with its oval, orange fruit is the most successful and decidedly palatable when fully ripe. There are some impressive large plants, which fruit in most years growing in gardens in the south of England. The hybrid 'Calamondin Orange' - x Citro-fortunella mitis is crossed with a mandarin orange and is remarkably hardy. It has long been a popular 'pot plant' with small, rounded fruits that are very tart. However, they are good substitutes for limes, excellent in drinks and make a very good marmalade. Better still, the calamondin is remarkably hardy, easily withstanding a few degrees of frost and frequently producing decent crops in a good summer.

Not sure what zone I'm really in. Seems warmer here than Scilley Isles, so could be zone 10, but nothing like UK zone 10 in terms of sunshine, just lack of frost.

So far I have only a Citrus citrandarin changsha which is in flower at the moment, even though tiny.

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