How does it appear that your citrus handled this winter? Most of my in-ground citrus trees are young and probably need more winter protection than they will once they are more mature. Our winter was still a zone 8a but there were more nights with lows in the teens than in recent years. My absolute low was 12 degrees F. Here is a sampling of how my citrus did:

-- Nippon Orangequat -- 5 gallon specimen planted a year ago. Total defoliation, twig dieback, possibly dead (this surprised me)

-- Nagami Kumquat -- no damage at all (protected with frost cloth and rope light)

-- Satsuma (Owari and Kimbrough varieties) -- little if any damage

-- Bloomsweet Grapefruit -- partial defoliation but looks good (3 plants)

-- Navel Orange -- planted 3 years ago in microclimate right next to house and has shown remarkable hardiness with only minimal protection

-- Chinotto Sour Orange -- total defoliation, but appears alive and otherwise well

-- Meyer Lemon -- one totally defoliated and one showed virtually no damage, the latter being protected only with a light covering of frost cloth

-- Citrumelo -- no damage at all

-- "Hardy Tangerine" from McKenzie Farms -- no damage, very light protection

-- "Ten Degree Tangerine" also from McKenzie Farms -- no damage at all with only light protection

-- Thomasville Citrangequat -- some leaf loss but no twig dieback (no protection on this plant at all)

Are there other citrus growers around here? Hope everybody is enjoying the early days of Spring.

wow just about everything thing did well at 12 f!

Its not just how hardy the plant is to low temps its how are you keeping the fruit from freezing. The Satsumas don't have this problem because they usually finish fruiting before freeze comes up some of the others I don't see how you can avoid it.

Alex, glad to hear that most of your plants survived. I'm thinking of planting a satsuma so it's very exciting that they did so well. Did you provide any protection to the satsumas and what is their microclimate like? I have a meyer lemon in a container and may try to take a rooted cutting and plant it in ground as well based on your success. Is it in a warm microclimate like the navel?

Brad, I covered the Satsumas with frost cloth with one strand of rope lights underneath during the nights that the temperatures were in the teens. My other citrus was unprotected.

Brad, Meyer Lemon will defolitate and suffer twig dieback when temperatures approach 20 degrees. I have one unprotected Meyer that is in a very warm microclimate. Most of my citrus are not in microclimates on my property as I have those spots filled up with palms.

Thanks for the information Alex.