Well, I am in the middle of switching gears. Was for years trying to find the hardiest varieties to try in Hampton, VA(7b/8a border) and I had amassed a nice assembly. Ponciforus, Changsha Mandarin and Thomasville citrangequat in the ground. But, now life is taking me in a new direction and I am moving to Phoenix, AZ. I understand with the right care, Citrus grow really well out there, but I do have a few questions.

Right now, I have seedlings of Bloomsweet grapefruit, Juanita Tangerine, Clem-Yuzu2-2, Ichang Lemon and Keraji. All are borderline for my area, but, I know they would be fine in zone 9. But, besides Keraji, I have not tried the other fruit. Based on taste, are some of them not worth bringing and better to try another species? Also, since I am in a favorable zone, what mandarins/oranges/tangerines/grapefruit are usually considered the most delicious? I just don't have that much info. on more cold tender citrus, so, I need to start learning more on them and not cold hardy varieties. Thanks for any help!!!

You can not bring any citrus into AZ. You will have to start over, or you may find yourself in a load of trouble.

You can grow pretty much anything, but the more exotic stuff is harder to find. Forum member turtleman has a nursery and he would be a good resource http://www.rsigrowers.com/

There many varieties that are considered best out here for each major type and known to produce very very well.

Pretty much anyone orange or mandarin works out here, but some produce excellently, others are fair. Also, blood oranges will color well here, Moro being the most common.

Libson seems to be the most popular commercial lemon, but Meyers are sold everywhere.

I'm actually not sure which grapefruits are most popular, but I think Ruby Red and Oro Blanco are pretty common. I'm not sure which grapefruit performs the best here. I just don't like grapefruit very much.

I think Minneola's grow very well.

Mexican and Bearss lime are available, but we do get frosts here, so in ground planting of these needs to be well thought out.

There are citrus trees everywhere here, most very old. You will see them in parking lots, lining the streets and in rows in housing subdivisions. As the city grew, many of the trees were kept, but sadly no one eats the fruit on any of these trees. They are just there. If you want, you can pick citrus off trees while you are getting gas. In the valley its mostly sweet oranges and mandarins.

It was 105-F in Phoenix today. - Millet (274 BO-)

I'm a neighbor just down the road in Tucson. In Arizona the "citrus triangle" is the area bounded by Phoenix, Tucson and Yuma and conventional wisdom has that as the boundaries for in ground citrus.

You'll be able to buy about any common citrus variety from numerous outlets when you get to Phoenix. Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart, Costco and every nursery stocks a selection.

For oranges in Arizona, the "Arizona sweet" (local name for trovita and hamlin) is the best performer. You can easily find trees of valencia, Washington navels, moro blood, etc. Navels don't do as well here as in California. On a good year I can attest to moro and trovita making some very good oranges here. You'll also see a few big old sour orange trees growing as ornamentals in residential areas. Sour orange is also the best full size rootstock for here, but is almost impossible to find trees on it for sale. My experience with in ground trees has been to choose full size trees and prune if they get too big. Dwarf trees don't perform well for me. A lot of HOAs have a height restriction for yard trees, 10' is pretty common.

I don't have a lemon tree, but several of my neighbors do and have bags of excess lemons they drop off. Meyers, Eureka and Lisbon are all common trees at retail outlets. They all do pretty well here but Eureka and Lisbon are more cold tender than other popular citrus. Local outlets sell Bearss, Palestine and Mexican lime trees and they grow vigorously here but are even more cold tender than lemons.

Grapefruit and mandarins do well here and there is a pretty big selection of mandarin varieties commonly offered. Kishu, Tango, Gold Nugget, Shasta, Murcott, Minnelo, Pixie and Page are easy to find. Earlier ripening varieties are the more reliable producers here.

Yes, there is no way to bring citrus into AZ, cannot even quarantine it! Select california nurseries can ship in AZ with the proper authorization/phytosanitary certificate.
Alot of the common fruit does seem available. But, some of the more unusual ones I want, changsha mandarin, Ichang lemon, bloomsweet, croxton grapefruit, keraji, do not seem readily available.
There is no restriction on seeds, so, maybe I can beg and Plead with Stan Mckenzie to send me some seeds of these varieties.
Was happy to see Kishu availabe because I have heard really good things about it.
Also, any outdoor plants need a phytosanitary certificate before being brought into the state. I have some expensive, but, small palm hybrids I will have to certify.
On the website, they stated they check all moving vans, but do not check cars. I am driving out there. But, I am sure with some palm leaves sticking out of passenger side seat, that might call attention to me, lol, and I do not want my palms quarantined or destroyed!
Have always wanted to try blood oranges, by the way!

I would just rehome my babies to a fellow hobbyist in VA and resign myself to a fresh start in AZ, you really don't have a choice. Visit turtleman's nursery once you get settled, and you'll be happy. I wish we had a great resource like RSI and turtleman down here in Tucson.

Welcome to citrus country!

turtleman - the nurseries down here don't stock much (if any) sour orange these days for whatever reason, gotta get up your way one of these days.

Bob..
Chris at Civanos nursery ordered over 1000 trees from me this season.. I got them grafted a few weeks ago and many are budding out,, Allot of multi-grafted types also..

there coming.......

Turtleman, do you have Ichang lemon, changsha mandarin, bloomsweet and brown's select satsuma mandarin at your place?

Sorry Andrew

Fact is,, I never even heard of them.. LOL

If I had it I'd grow it,, but I tend to stick to the type that is a proven producer in my market area