Citrus 'Ponderosa'

The Ponderosa lemon is grown for spectacle as much as for the kitchen. The fruits are enormous, often two to four pounds each, thick-skinned and gloriously bumpy, hanging like green-gold cannonballs among the glossy leaves. For all the size, the flesh is tart, juicy, and true lemon in flavor, and works in any recipe a regular lemon would, with the novelty of a single fruit that can fill a hand.

The history is tangled, and rather fun. Discovered as a chance seedling in the late nineteenth century, the Ponderosa lemon was long taken to be a cross of lemon, Citrus limon, and citron, Citrus medica, and is still sold under the old name Citrus x limon 'Ponderosa'. Recent genetic work tells a different story, pointing instead to a citron and a pomelo, Citrus maxima, with little true lemon in the mix at all. The century-old name has stuck all the same, and the giant, fragrant fruit remains as striking as ever.

An evergreen reaching six to twelve feet, the Ponderosa lemon is frost-tender and best kept to the warmest gardens, zones 9 to 11, or grown in a container that can be carried indoors for winter. The purple-tinged white flowers come nearly year-round, sweetly fragrant, so the plant is rarely without bloom, fruit, or both at once. Site in full sun and sharp, slightly acidic soil, protect from frost, and enjoy a citrus that is equal parts conversation piece and working lemon.

Photos courtesy of David Karp and Toni Siebert, CVC.