Citrus fruits on new wood so you won't have to wait for those 5 gallon ones. If you go to the nurseries now you'll see a lot of them with ripe fruit.

Your lemon is probably a Meyer lemon.

In San Jose it all grows well. Not sure about Napa. Maybe you need more cold hardy varieties. See what is growing in your neighborhoods, ask your local nursery. I would suggest a meiwa kumquat and if possible a blood orange and/or summer orange.

Kate, when you say "sweet" lemon, how sweet is sweet? It may be a sweet lime, which looks like a lemon, and is sub-acid sweet. Very insipid. Cherished in the Middle East, but not so popular here in the USA. My Meyer lemons are not sweet. They're acidic, just not as acidic as a Eureka or Lisbon. But biting into one will probably not give you a "sweet" reaction. Just maybe a little bit less acidic than a Eureka or Lisbon (the two more common lemons available to the retail market.) And, you might want to check out Montery Bay Nursery. Down in Monterey Bay area, but they are a wholesale nursery and provide really high quality citrus, and some neat, more usual citrus to many nurseries throughout the state of California. You can contact them to see what retail nurseries in your area buy from them. I can special order any of their varieties through Anderson Nursery in Carlsbad for me. You don't have your USDA/Sunset Zone in your "Posted By" sig line (see mine), so not sure how cold you get up there, but I think melikeeatplants made a great suggestion in a Meiwa kumquat (my favorite kumquat). You also might consider the Satsumas, especially the Frost Owari Satsuma mandarin, one of the most cold tolerant citrus going. And quite good. And blood oranges should turn very red for you, too, if you can protect them from frost, so either a Moro if you really want something colorful, or a Tarocco, which some folks like the taste of better (I like them both, and think Moro actually tastes very unique and good.)

Patty S.

Here is a link that might be useful: Monterey Bay Nursery

I am not sure what my zone is. My zip code is 94534.

As far as the lemon tree that we have -- it just does not taste like a regular lemon to me. It is not very acidic, but is definitely a lemon, not a lime.

I like your ideas of blood orange and satsuma mandarins. I have never tried kumquat, and need to try those.

Also, I think our orange tree is infested with pests that are eating the leaves. The leaves have multiple holes in them all over the place. I saw ants crawling on the tree once. The oranges are growing, and the leaves have some brown discoloration on them (not sure if it is normal to begin with). What should we do?

Thanks!

Kate, you are in Zone 8B.

If I were you, I'd contact Four Winds Growers (link below) who have been around since the '40s, are experts in dwarf (Regarding your orange issues, sounds like you might have a scale problem (ants 'farm' the scales which produce a sweet nectar-like substance that the ants love). Another indication of scales is stickiness on the leaves that can then lead to a black mold/fungus residue covering the leaves and stems. If it's pervasive and beneficial insects are not helping keep under control, you can spray with non-pesticide agents like Horticultural Oil, Neem Oil, (but for these, you should not spray in hot temps - follow label instructions closely) and some here have even sprayed with Fish Emulsion.

Finally, with regard to holes you find on the leaves, the most likely suspects are slugs. I use a biodegradable product called 'Sluggo' which works very well and is not harmful to pets and birds.

Tim

Here is a link that might be useful: Four Winds Growers

Also, I agree with those above in thinking your lemon is a Meyer (ML) They are very different from regular grocery store lemons, so you may want to look on-line for recipes specifically for the Meyer. For example, I just made some ML marmalade, curd, and tart w/blueberries which all came out fantastic (the ML curd is out of this world)! The one thing I really love about the ML is that in making desserts (or ML lemonade!), you don't need to use very much sugar at all because they are so 'sweet', as you say...

Tim

Patty, you are a veritable trove of information - thank you for posting the link to Sunset's climate zones (I'd not seen that before)! And I agree with you (LOL) that Sunset Western Garden Book truly is our Bible here in the West; mine is literally falling to pieces from over-use. I don't know about you, but I sometimes find even Sunset's zones lacking. For instance, we are considered 17 here in SF, same as Oakland and I swear my friends across the Bay are always about 5-10 degrees warmer (gotta love micro-climates around here)! BTW, if you like SWGB, another of my favorites is 'Plants and Landscapes for Summer Dry Climates' which is a must-have for anyone living in Mediterranean climate areas interested in xeriscaping.

Tim

Well, thank you, that's awfully nice of you to say :-) You're going to be very excited, then, to know that the brand new, 2012 Sunset Western Garden Book was JUST released today! See the link below. Mine is on its way, and a 2nd one as a birthday gift to my sister, who is also a big gardener. And yes, I do have that additional Sunset book, it is just excellent! My second love are California natives as well as succulents.

Patty S.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sunset Western Garden Book 2012 Edition

It does sound as if you have a Meyer lemon tree. If you don't like them, you should consider contacting the better restaurants in your area and asking them if they want them. Chefs adore Meyers and commercially they're quite expensive, so you might be able to either generate some goodwill or even do a bit of barter (e.g., some Bouchon bakery items for a few gallons of Meyers)!

Good suggestion, jkom! I love my Meyer lemons, but I know not everyone does. But you're so right - chefs drool over them, they are fabulous to cook with.

Patty S.