Kaffir lime tree

My Kaffir lime tree arrived in the mail today. Yippee!!  My girlfriend packed him up fresh on Tuesday morning in the Florida Keys and he arrived healthy and moist this morning.  According to Nikki Phipps, author of The bulb-o-licious Garden,  this dwarf citrus tree, can reach up to 5 feet tall, can be grown outdoors (year round in zones 9-10), but is best suited for indoors. The Kaffir lime tree thrives in potted environments and would benefit from placement out on the patio or deck. They prefer full sun, are cold sensitive and need to be protected from frost. It's a perfect match, those are the conditions he'll be living in.  Summer months he'll be outdoors, when the first chance of frost is pending, he'll move inside with the other citrus trees.

 

 This is how he arrived, surrounded by peanuts and wrapped in ziploc bags to hold in the moisture.  At 5 1/2" tall, he's a good traveler.  The limes are dark green and have a bumpy surface.  They produce very little juice, for that reason neither the fruit or flesh is rarely used, but the plant is prized for its leaves which are used in Asian cooking.  It has distinctive leaves which look like there's a second leaf growing out of the tip of the first leaf.

This Western Robin appears interested  in what's going on.  Actually, I think he just finished taking a bath in the trickling waterfall by the fish pond.