Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. Stan McKenzie, aka, Stan the Citrus Man, has the largest orange grove in south Carolina at his home in Scranton, near Lake City. On a recent visit to his nursery with Sumter Master Gardeners, I got two Ogeechee limes to plant on the edge of my new bog garden. Although Stan specializes in citrus, these “lime” plants are actually in the genus Nyssa, and related to the tupelo gums, which like bald cypress, grow with greatly swollen bases in our swamps and bottomlands. The juice of its red fruits is said to be a substitute for limes but it will take a lot of them to make a margarita – they’re only an inch and half long, but can be so numerous that they make a mess on sidewalks or driveways. The fall color, like with its other nyssa relatives, is said to be spectacular and long-lasting.
Ogeechee Limes for Fall Color
