Limes aren’t cold hardy enough for Las Vegas area
Question: Will either dwarf lime or lemon trees do well here? We considered pots, but our patio faces west and gets very hot. We have a small space for pots in the front yard, which faces east. Any suggestions?
The principal limitation for citrus here is winter cold. Cold tolerance in citrus generally follows this progression of tolerance from the most hardy to least: (most) kumquat, Meyer’s lemon, grapefruit, Mandarin or Satsuma orange, navel orange and lime (least).
Once you get to navel orange, the rest will not handle any freezing.
You should locate citrus in the part of the yard that is the warmest in the winter and protected from cold winter winds. If you like lemons, Meyer’s is a good choice and very popular in Las Vegas, even though it is not a true lemon.
I would put limes only in much-protected locations.
Bob Morris is a professor emeritus in horticulture with the University of Nevada and can be reached at extremehort@aol.com. Visit his blog at
xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com.