Lemon

Eureka

Eureka is the classic sharp-acid commercial lemon, stocked in New Zealand by Wairere Nursery, which recommends Lemon Eureka for that sharp acid tang, perfect for gin and tonic, alongside Meyer, Lemonade, Villa Franca and Lisbon. Eureka bears medium juicy lemons with high acid over a long season on a vigorous, nearly thornless tree, and is the standard true lemon against which sweeter types like Meyer and Lemonade are compared. An essential gap: the catalog holds Lemonade, Rainbow Meyer and Seedless Lisbon but no standard high-acid Eureka.

Lemonade

Lemonade is a New Zealand-bred low-acid lemon-type citrus, described by Waimea Nurseries as a hybrid of lemon and mandarin with a mild, refreshing grapefruit-like flavour. It was selected specifically so the fruit can be eaten fresh straight from the tree: the medium-sized fruit (7-10 cm) has smooth, glossy, bright-yellow skin with aromatic oil glands, a thin layer of semi-sweet white pith, and soft, aqueous golden-yellow flesh in 9-11 segments that is seedless or holds only a few ivory seeds. Because acidity is very low, the natural sugars come through as a sweet, tangy, lemonade-like flavour without the sour bite of a true lemon. Trees are hardy, evergreen, and heavy cropping (around 2 m in NZ gardens), with fragrant blossom, and fruit is available from late autumn through early spring with the main crop in winter. The fruit is eaten fresh, sliced into salads, or juiced without added sugar, but it does not replace high-acid culinary lemons in cooking. Fruit keeps well both on the tree and in storage. Grow in full sun in deep, well-drained soil, sheltered from frost; a good container subject.

Lisbon

Lisbon is the parent group of New Zealand's Yen Ben selection and is sold as a distinct cultivar by Wairere Nursery (Lemon Lisbon) and Kereru Gardens, Tauranga. A vigorous, hardy true lemon with large pale-yellow fruit of strong acid flavour, Lisbon is thorny when young and crops heavily over winter. Adding standard Lisbon alongside Yen Ben (its NZ Lisbon-strain selection) mirrors how NZ nurseries list both, and fills the true-lemon gap next to the existing Seedless Lisbon entry.

Meyer

Meyer is the most widely planted home-garden lemon in New Zealand, a lemon x mandarin/orange hybrid producing large, smooth, thin-skinned fruit that is sweeter and less acidic than true lemons. Waimea Nurseries describes it as hugely popular and the most cold-hardy lemon variety, with a low spreading habit, few thorns, and fruiting all year round once established. Unlike other citrus it grows true on its own roots and is commonly sold cutting-grown. Fruit is large and very juicy, suited to dessert, drinks and culinary use. Wairere Nursery also lists Meyer as a reliable year-round cropper.

Rainbow Meyer

Rainbow Meyer is a variegated sport of Meyer lemon grown as much for ornament as for fruit. The foliage carries a vibrant mix of green, white, and yellow splashes, and the fruit is equally eye-catching with green striping that ripens to yellow-orange. Like the standard Meyer - believed to be a lemon crossed with a mandarin or orange - the fruit is a sweeter type of lemon: large, juicy, thin- and smooth-skinned, with deep yellow-orange flesh and a softer, less sharp acidity than true lemons, suited to cooking, baking, and refreshing drinks as well as fresh use. The tree shares the Meyer habit: low and spreading with few thorns, cold-hardy for a lemon, and once established capable of fruiting almost all year round in warm NZ gardens, which is why no single NZ-season slot fits it. Fragrant white flowers are an added attraction. Grow in full sun in well-drained soil with regular citrus fertiliser; fruit holds on the tree and stores well. A standout patio or container plant where its striped fruit and variegated leaves show best.

Seedless Lisbon

Seedless Lisbon is the NZ-grown form of the Yen Ben strain - an improved, near-seedless selection of the Lisbon lemon, one of the two classic commercial lemon types. Yen Ben originated as a sport of Lisbon found at Benyenda Citrus in Queensland, Australia in the late 1930s, and is now widely regarded as one of the best lemons for New Zealand conditions and one of the hardiest of all lemons. Trees are vigorous and prolific, bearing large, oval, smooth-skinned fruit with fragrant, firm skin and strongly acidic, very juicy flesh with few to no seeds. The main harvest falls in midwinter (July-August), with fruit most of the year in warm districts - the classic sharp lemon for juice, cooking, preserving, and drinks. Self-fertile. Plant in a sunny, sheltered, frost-free position in deep, well-drained soil; feed as a gross feeder with citrus fertiliser and water through dry periods and fruit development. Fruit stores well and holds on the tree over several months.

Villa Franca

Villa Franca is a true lemon of Sicilian origin sold in NZ by Flying Dragon Nursery as a cold-hardy variety and by Wairere Nursery (including a variegated form). Flying Dragon describes large juicy fruit with sharp classic lemon flavour and very few seeds, a dense leafy canopy that shades fruit against wind and sunburn, and better cold tolerance than most true lemons so it succeeds beyond the warmer north. Ripens April to July. Naturally vigorous and bushy, a little thorny while young. Preferred for winter lemon-and-honey drinks, marmalade and preserved lemons.

Yen Ben

Yen Ben is a New Zealand-selected Lisbon-type lemon and one of the two lemons Waimea Nurseries lists (as LEMON Yen Ben (Lisbon)). It is an improved selection of Lisbon lemon bearing excellent crops of large oval fruit with few seeds, noted as one of the hardiest of lemons. Wairere Nursery describes it as a true lemon bearing basketfuls of large oval fruit with distinctive sharp acidic flavour, very juicy with few seeds, ripening July-August, on a 3 x 2.5 m evergreen tree. The standard sharp-acid counterpart to Meyer and Lemonade types.