What is an Aussie garden without a lemon tree? In some cases, it’s the only plant in a neglected backyard, uncared-for and forlorn but battling on year after year. Citrus is the number one fruit tree type grown in Australian home gardens and for all but the coldest parts of the country there are excellent varieties that are suitable for home use. It often comes as a surprise, though, that citrus plants are native to South East Asia rather than southern Europe or the Middle East.

You can understand the mistake, as citrus has become a commercial plant much associated with the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Here, we look at some of the popular and unusual varieties of citrus available to home gardeners and offer some recipes that will encourage you to plant some citrus.

Lemon

For many Australians, the most popular citrus used in cooking is the lemon (Citrus limon). From a simple dressing for fish and chips to Greek tzatziki dips, the lemon has been the acid juice of choice since early settlement. Oddly, most Asian recipes when they call for lemon as an ingredient — and many do — really mean lime; visitors to South East Asia will find that lemons are rare as they dislike tropical climes. Lemons have an obscure genetic history and may have been bred through crossing several citrus parents in Europe or the Middle East.

Perhaps due to its culinary popularity as well as ease of culture, the lemon is arguably found in more Australian gardens than any other fruit tree. They grow well in most of Australia, apart from the true tropics or areas with hard winter frost. The two main varieties of lemon available in Australia are Eureka and Lisbon.

Eureka is the most common lemon grown in home gardens as it’s a prolific fruiter and bears few thorns. Its main downside is it dislikes frost. One of the oldest varieties of lemon in Australia is Lisbon, which is more cold-tolerant than Eureka, but has the disadvantage of being a much thornier and less prolific plant.

Oranges

The main commercial citrus crop in Australia is the sweet orange (Citrus sinensis), the main varieties being the Washington Navel and the later fruiting Valencia. It’s said that if you plant one of each of these varieties, you’ll have oranges available at home for 10 months a year. Oranges are easy to grow and, like most citrus, demand regular water and fertiliser and free-draining soil.

For those wanting to use oranges in jams and cooking, a sour orange or Seville (Citrus aurantium) is worth choosing, especially as they are hard to find in fruit shops. Sour oranges arrived in Europe from China in the 1st century BCE and were well established in southern Europe by the 4th century CE. Seville oranges remain popular in warmer parts of Europe and are essential for making orange marmalade.

Mandarin

Mandarins (Citrus reticulate) are the most popular eating citrus and are gorged in vast quantities by children and adults during winter. The biggest-selling variety locally is the early-fruiting Imperial, which is at its best in early winter. This locally raised, easy-to-peel variety dominates the Australian mandarin market despite having less flavour than many later varieties.

Mixed parentage

Many commonly available citrus plants are in reality artificial crosses between two or more parents. One popular cross is the Tahitian lime (Citrus latifolia). This lime is the most common lime grown in Australian gardens and it comes as a shock to some that the plant is not a true lime, even though it looks and tastes like one. The Tahitian lime seems to be a cross between the West Indian lime (Citrus aurantifolia) and the citron (Citrus medica). This inspired cross allows limes to be grown in temperate climates and the plant can even take minor frost.

Another popular cross is the Meyer lemon (Citrus x meyeri). Rather than being a true lemon, it seems to be an early Chinese cross between an unknown orange and a lemon. Sweeter and less sour than lemons, it makes a good choice for regions with frost, climates usually unsuitable for true lemons. Meyer makes a fine pot specimen, too.