Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
malibu_rose

Good Citrus Selection at Costco

malibu_rose
13 years ago

I went to Costco in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles (Roscoe & Canoga) today and found a nice selection of Willet & Newcomb citrus plants at $18.79 each. They had Bearss Limes, Grapefruits(did not note the type) Calamondin, Satsuma Mandarin, Washington Navel, Moro Blood Orange, Italian Lemon (St. Theresa), Improved Meyer Lemon, Lisbon Lemon, Valencia, etc. My selections were the Improved Meyer Lemon which was the only dwarf, Washington Navel, Moro Blood Orange, Italian Lemon. According to the description, the Italian Lemon is from a group of trees that originally came from Sorrento, Italy and the lemons are used to make limoncello.

{{gwi:568629}}
{{gwi:568630}}

Comments (32)

  • hoosierquilt USDA 10A Sunset 23 Vista CA
    13 years ago

    Thanks, malibu! Will be checking out my local Coscto. I'd love to snag an Italian lemon, very cool!

    Patty S.

  • ashleysf
    13 years ago

    malibu and patty, can the Italian lemon be substituted for a normal lemon? I would love to get an Italian lemon at Costco, but was wondering what to do with the fruit.

  • hoosierquilt USDA 10A Sunset 23 Vista CA
    13 years ago

    Yes, it can :-) The Santa Teresa Femminello Lemon is an old, old lemon, disease resistant and a good option in place of Eureka or Lisbon. Here's a link from the Citrus Pages about Santa Teresa: http://users.kymp.net/citruspages/lemons.html#teresa

    And a link from UCR about Femminellos in general: http://www.citrusvariety.ucr.edu/citrus/femminello.html

    And more info at Clifton's about Santa Teresa, which is grown by Willits & Newcomb (and Four Winds as well), but W&N kind of call the ball rolling as far as a revived interest in this interesting and historic lemon:
    http://www.buyplantsonline.com/dwarf-italian-lemon-tree-five-gallon.html

    Patty S.

  • malibu_rose
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Ashleysf, I have not tasted an Italian lemon but I am sure you could substitute this fruit with other lemons. I understand the Santa Theresa which is the name of the Italian Lemon I purchased is from a a group called
    Feminello Ovale. I plan to make lemonicello with them and marmalade. Here is the information I found on gardenguide.com on this variety:
    "The Feminello Ovale is one of the oldest Italian lemon tree varieties still actively grown today. This tree is popular because its lemons have very few seeds and tend to be plump and juicy. They are highly acidic. This tree bears fruit all year, with the largest crops in the winter and spring. The Feminello Ovale's fruits store and ship well. This tree has no thorns and is the leading cultivar in Italy."

  • ashleysf
    13 years ago

    Thank you so much, Patty and Malibu_rose! I am off to get the Italian Lemon @ Costco and also to browse all the other citrus there! I can always use more lemons as I grow all of my lemons in containers and don't have too many of those fruits. I will put the Santa Teresa in a container.

  • cebury
    13 years ago

    I love W&N citrus trees. Big and healthy with beautiful root systems. Just be careful if you're going to keep it in container. I'd do a near 100% soil replacement (bare root) and put in fresh fast draining soil. The soil used is very heavy and will cement up within a year or so.

  • ashleysf
    13 years ago

    thank you, Chris. Good to know. I will make sure to bare root the tree when I get it. I love the W&N citrus trees too! I have a Valencia Orange and Bearss Lime from them and they both are doing great.

  • Jessicasgrowincitrus
    13 years ago

    Ah! I wish I could get some citrus trees from Costco!! I was talking to the Live Goods buyer the other day and she happen to mentioned that they were about to bring in citrus to some stores in CA. I had no idea of the selection you were getting!! The Italian Lemon sounds AWESOME!

    **Disclaimer- I work for Costco Wholesale at the corporate office here in Seattle.

    I am totally jealous! We will not get citrus like that up here in Washington. :( Lucky you!

    Enjoy!

  • Karly30
    13 years ago

    I waited too long, I tried two stores last night and the selection was totally picked over. Just lemons, limes and some grapefruit left. Shame on me.

  • hoosierquilt USDA 10A Sunset 23 Vista CA
    13 years ago

    Karly, just give them a call as they get shipments in all the time. Find out when they're expecting their next shipment, and time a second visit so you're "first in line".

    Patty S.

  • cebury
    13 years ago

    None at my Costco yet in Fresno -- and we're RIGHT HERE by the W&N Citrus grower (not like that matters, but it is funny).

    Oh BTW, I have a color chart of all the various root stocks and scions. If you purchased one, can you give me the color coding on the plant and I can verify if they are still accurate?

    Malibu: You stated yours was the only dwarf. Was the stock labeled or just stated "dwarf"?

    Two years ago, my Costco had a decent selection of Navels on actual Flying Dragon stock. Finding Citrus on true Flying Dragon isn't common at all in the retail nursery market around here. The ones marked "dwarf" are usually on a Trifoliate hybrid.

    The W&N dwarf and semi-dwarf trees I purchased that year all have grown -- but not the Flying Dragon. It truly IS growing very slowly and is the smallest of the bunch; however it is healthy.

  • hoosierquilt USDA 10A Sunset 23 Vista CA
    13 years ago

    cebury, where did you get the color chart for the rootstock? Love to have that myself.

    Patty S.

  • Karly30
    13 years ago

    Good tip Patty, thanks! For some reason I thought I read that this citrus stock was just for a week or two only. I'll be stalking my local Costco!

  • carino2010
    13 years ago

    I was in COSTCO (Houston tx) two days ago but they did not have any citrus. They did have some nice japanese maples for 99.00. They had red bark and were in a five gallon containers. You pay double that at a nursery. Hope they bring some down here.

  • malibu_rose
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Cebury, I meant that of the 4 citrus plants I bought, only the Meyer Lemon was a dwarf, all the others were standard trees.

  • cebury
    13 years ago

    >> cebury, where did you get the color chart for the rootstock? Love to have that myself.

    directly from W&N. The president gave me permission to post it a couple years ago, so I wanted to confirm at least a few of the entries are correct before I post it.

    The color codings are on the trunk, there are bands of painted colors -- one on the rootstock and 1-3 on the scion.

    Here is a snippet:

    Willits & Newcomb, Inc.
    Color Code

    colors read from the bud union up

    Variety First Second Third Color(if any)
    NAVELS
    Atwood blue orange
    Cara Cara blue sky blue
    Fisher blue blue
    Fukumoto blue red
    Gillette blue black
    Lane Late blue green
    Newhall blue brown
    Robertson blue brown brown
    Spring blue lime green
    Washington blue
    Australian Late blue yellow

    ROOTSTOCKS
    African Shad x Rub Trif black black
    Benton Citrange gray
    C-32 salmon
    C-35 red
    Carrizo NO COLOR

  • hoosierquilt USDA 10A Sunset 23 Vista CA
    13 years ago

    Thanks, cebury. I should check with Dave Wilson, LaVerne and Four Winds. Those are the bigger fruit tree providers in my area. Very nice to know if you lose a tag or want to know rootstock.

    Patty S.

  • redshirtcat
    13 years ago

    For what it's worth the trees I got from Cliftons were W&N trees and supposedly all Flying Dragon. I don't see it on your list there. The root stock were all marked with purple.

  • MrClint
    13 years ago

    The citrus at the Northridge Costco looked neglected. They were all in need of sunlight and water. The trees that I saw were stressed, and might not transplant well.

  • cebury
    13 years ago

    Patty: I know DWN does color code, but I have only seen sparse coding on LaVerne and Four Winds trees. I've never seen coding on 4W dwarf trees at retail locations.

    Redshirtcat: Thanks. The list I posted was only a small section. The real list is about 10 times as long.

    And YES, Flying Dragon as a rootstock is a Purple indicator.

    Here is the complete list of Rootstock color codes (as of a few years ago):

    ROOTSTOCKS
    African Shad x Rub Trif black black
    Benton Citrange gray
    C-32 salmon
    C-35 red
    Carrizo NO COLOR
    Cuban Shaddock blue green
    Flying Dragon purple
    Macrophylla blue
    Schaub Rough Lemon yellow
    Swingle green
    Trifoliate black
    Volkameriana white

  • londonblue
    12 years ago

    I've been searching for the Santa Teresa for a while and just found some at my local Costco up north. I didn't see any paint on the root stock so I 'm wondering what size tree it will be. The tag only says "medium tree" and nothing about dwarf or semi-dwarf.

  • hoosierquilt USDA 10A Sunset 23 Vista CA
    12 years ago

    Lemons tend to be only grafted to certain rootstocks, as they has scion-graft incompatibilities with some trifoliate rootstocks (semi-dwarfing rootstock.) So, probably on Alemow and the tag is referring to the actual growth habit of the tree, itself. Most likely will top out at 20' if you don't prune for shape. But, that will take 5 to 10 years, so you've got plenty of time to keep it pruned to the heigh you prefer :-)

    Patty S.

  • hoosierquilt USDA 10A Sunset 23 Vista CA
    12 years ago

    Thanks, cebury. Yes, all my DWN trees are color coded, and my new little Smith Red Valencia from 4 Winds is not color coded. I think because 4 Winds uses predominantly one citrus rootstock (excluding lemons & and some mandarins).

    Patty S.

  • GKGK
    10 years ago

    Apologies to posting to such an old thread. I have constructed a list of color codes and wish i had seen this thread years ago. I'd love to share / compare the list I have with the official one and those interested. And if you have the official list from Willits & Newcomb, i'd very much appreciate it.

    BTW: I just grabbed my 40th Citrus from Costco. W&N has been terrific in helping me with my citrus collection; even getting certain varieties on the specific costco delivery truck.

  • Kippy
    10 years ago

    Wow, 40! That is great GKGK

    I have gotten:

    Lemons:

    Meyer standard
    Meyer Dwarf
    Italian one mentioned above I hope
    Variegated Pink

    Oranges:
    Torocco
    Morro
    Cara-cara

    Mandarines:
    Clementine
    Seedless Kishu
    Gold Nugget

    Limes:
    Australian Finger Lime
    Bearrs
    Key

    I want a couple more Mandarines and a kumquat

  • hoosierquilt USDA 10A Sunset 23 Vista CA
    10 years ago

    GKGK, just email Willits & Newcomb and ask for their rootstock color codes. They are the nicest folks ever. I am so upset with our Costcos in San Diego county. They have changed vendors, and no longer buy from W&N. I am trying to find the regional person to talk to, to voice my extreme displeasure with this decision. Kippy, you need to add a Tango and a Page mandarin to your mandarin collection :-) And, at least one Satsuma.

    Patty S.

  • Kippy
    10 years ago

    Thanks for the ideas Patty

    I think I have an OLD satsuma that we love.

    I have been to Costco obsessively checking for the Tango. I think I missed the boat on the Page, they had them but I bought others and now the trees look sad from being indoors and lack of water.

    Think they will come back?

  • hoosierquilt USDA 10A Sunset 23 Vista CA
    10 years ago

    Contact W&N and see if they have any they can send to your Costco. They are the best folks to work with, and if they can accommodate you, they will certainly try! Depends entirely on their stock, and if Costco is willing to place another order.

    Patty S.

  • uncle molewacker z9b Danville CA (E.SF Bay)
    10 years ago

    (formerly GKGK): thank you all! I just got the color variety charts from W&N. They have come through for me yet again. I am picking up my 5 "specials" tomorrow morning :-).

    Judging from my conversations, its simpler to ask / request particular varieties through W&N and be prompt to pick them up the morning of delivery to Costco.

  • Kippy
    10 years ago

    I got my Page! New shipment in today.

    Any thoughts on the Pixie as a dwarf?

  • hoosierquilt USDA 10A Sunset 23 Vista CA
    10 years ago

    Pixie is a very tasty mandarin, Kippy. Much like the Seedless Kishu, very sweet and on the smaller side. I have one, that is hopefully going to be producing this next season.

    Patty S.

  • Kippy
    10 years ago

    Oh dear!

    If you were me, would you wait hoping Costco gets a Tango in (they did last season) or pick up a Pixie?

    I have to double check, but I think I have room for both Tango and Pixie if I rethink where I plant Page