What's Wrong With My Lemon Tree?

Here is my submission to the plant clinic over at Garden Rant.


My Meyer lemon has been growing in a pot for a few years (maybe as long as six?) and for the last few years it just hasn't been as happy as it once was. I get a dozen or so lemons a year from this tree which is fine because I can get lemons from several friends with bigger trees in the ground. Maybe I should find a spot and stick mine in the ground too. I did repot it two years ago with fresh potting soil. I give it some organic citrus fertilizer every so often. It gets plenty of sun, I'm careful about watering it and I decorate it with it's own string of piazza lights in the winter to ward off frost. But the bottom line is it is just not healthy looking. The leaves are yellowed and it doesn't have much new growth. It isn't blooming much this year...at least so far it only has a few blooms. I like the idea of citrus in pots...I think they make pretty container plants. But this one is not living up to my expectations!

Garden Blogger Bloom Day April 2010

April showers have made April flowers burst into bloom. Some are spring ephemerals, some are winter blooms that will soon disappear and some are the first blossoms of the summer bloomers that will continue, barring any totally strange weather, for months. I'd grow the favas above just for the blooms even if I didn't like to eat them! Rosa Cecile Brunner is brightening up the fence in the new little patio area.

Dutch iris have been blooming for some time and now bearded iris are joining in.


The supposed-to-be-but-not Fairy Wings spanish lavender is happy, but it doesn't have the longer 'wings' that made me want this plant.Salvia Dancing Dolls is the first of the salvias to perform this year. It will bloom for months and eventually be joined by other salvias.This yellow columbine is covered with flowers and buds and has begun to self seed in the area. Note to self: I should move a few of those plants elsewhere.
This stubborn foxglove will open tomorrow morning I suppose...

This little dianthus has lived on the sidewalk/driveway corner for years.

Cranesbill Biokova is blooming all around the garden...I use it for filler and groundcover since it is amazingly easy to divide.
Another iris in the front garden reminds me that I moved a lot of these last year...not too many have bloomed yet. I hope they are settling in and will bloom soon...or next year.
Butterfly Blue Scabiosa and allysum in the back garden.

One Rosa Lady Banks is blooming on the arbor and another shows off in the back corner. She'll need a little trim after she's done.
This little columbine has struggled to survive and after two years is finally blooming. This is the first columbine I've grown from seed and now the yellow columbine (planted as a 4 inch plant) across the garden is seeding itself much more easily than all the fuss I took with this one.
Garden peas are blooming and we've been eating them for a week or so. Not lots at once but enough to munch.
The wisteria show is winding down as it leafs out. I had to do emergency repairs to its hook system to keep it from falling off the fence this year after the fence was rebuilt. More will need to be done as well as some thinning as soon as the main bloom show ends.


Other bloomers not pictured this month include:

Wax begonias
Pansies
Cyclamen
Snapdragons
Freesias
Pelargoniums
Iberis
Lavandula pinnata bucchii
Meyer lemon
Bearss lime
Anisodontea Hibiscus Bits
Solanum jasminoides
Anisodontea Elegant Lady