Citrus > Cold Hardy Citrus

Cold-Hardy (to 7b) varieties w/o the poncirus "resin"-y taste?

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nullroar:
Hey folks! I have a pretty big problem:

As a #FloridaMan (no, that's not the problem, although my wife snickers at it), I grew up surrounded by citrus. Even worse, I grew up in APOPKA, the "indoor foliage capital of the world," with a nursery every few feet from me. It was paradise.

Now I live in a place with actual snow, in 7b, and it's not enough to grow a few dwarf kumquats in pots and bring them in doors. I'm looking for citrus I can grow and enjoy on my property. I thought I'd hit the jackpot when I saw a flying dragon in-ground at the landscape section of the local nursery - it must have been at least 10 years old, and my mind was blown: citrus COULD be grown here! I started researching and, of course, there was a catch: most resources describe poncirus as practically inedible, and many of the hybrids / crosses with it also appear to inherit its "resin" flavor.

So I've started a search for anything - really, anything - that doesn't taste terrible and which I can possibly grow in-ground here successfully without a ton of protection/micromanagement in the winter beyond, say, standard mulching or smart planting site placement.

I've been heavily relying on forums like this which have some INCREDIBLE posts from users about winter hardiness of their varieties (thanks, all who have taken the time to share!), and have been using sources like https://hardycitrus.blogspot.com/ to try and identify varieties that mix hardiness with actual edibility.

Unfortunately, I've been seeing a lot of mixed messages around what actually does or doesn't taste decent. (For example, I've heard the "Dragon Lime" may or may not be hardy to my zone, may or may not taste strongly of poncirus, etc., or that certain citranges may taste excellent, or that ALL citranges taste of poncirus, etc).

I was hoping to lean on the experts here. From personal experience, what can you recommend? For reference, right now I am trying:
- a prague chimera I got from Stan (can't recommend McKenzie farms enough!)
- a Yuzu
- a clem 2-2 (seedling)
- a thomasville (seedling)
- an "arctic frost" satsuma (after I bought it, I read on forums that the designation appears to be largely marketing; regardless, it's planted on the south side of the home as close to the brick as I can get it without risking damage to the foundation).
- a citrus peltatum "shield orange" (99% sure this is going to die, but it's from the same stock as a buddy who grew his up in Tennessee)
- a xie shen satsuma (I think I got this from Georgia Grown Citrus nursery; fantastic nursery if you can get stuff in stock from them)
- a citrus paradisi chance seedling I posted about recently (just ordered it, so I haven't even seen it yet, but it's in the plans).

Is there anything here I should not have hopes for? Additionally, what should I be looking into that can survive my climate while also producing something delicious? Also, should I take note of any particularly special care requirements for any of these, or treat them similarly to citrus in florida, other than mulching in winter?

Thanks in advance!

P.S.:
Does anyone else have issues with the verification image thing before posting? I have to try like 4-5 times before figuring out the letters in the images. Maybe i'm a robot....

Perplexed:
What is citrus peltatum ?

nullroar:
Not an expert so I can't vouch confidently for any of this - I only know what I've been told because I couldn't get squat when I tried to look it up. Apparently there's some sort of wild chinese citrus that looks, sounds, and quacks a lot like a mandarin, but somehow isn't one, and it's apparently cross between that and a hardy Japanese pomelo. There's no way I can remember the name of the chinese parent citrus, though.

Anyhow, even though he's an entire zone "colder" than me, he babies his citrus like crazy and I don't, so even if it really did survive the last few years for him without any damage, I'm not particularly hopeful that it can last out here where a fair amount of my property is on a slope and have to take extra precautions just to reduce wind down to "normal."

Any thoughts on citrus varieties I should be picking up that I can have some more hope in / that won't taste terrible?

EDIT: figured I'd toss some stem/leaf pictures as maybe they can help ID. Excuse any mess in the background.

EDIT: Oh, forgot to mention, I also have kumquat. But it's grafted, and in a large pot. Stan told me he thinks the best chance a kumquat has of surviving zone 7 is if it's on its own rootstock, so I'm unsure as to whether I can put it in the ground. :/

Perplexed:
Try ichang papeda if you can get your hands on it. Dimicelli and Taiwanica lemon.

tedburn:
nullroar, I rhink some of your mentioned varieties are pretty good for 7 b, especially Prague Citsuma, which survived last winter -16 Celsius with not much passive protection and a smal plant. Also planted in my garden survived Sanford Curafora and Morton Citrange which should have edible fruits. But why don' t you try parallel citrus in pots ? I have good results with Chandler Ponelo and other delicous citrus varieties and in winter they are in a small temperature regulated greenhouse 😀.
Regards Frank

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