Lychee 'Emperor'

Fresh lychees and homemade vanilla ice-cream. Ooh!!!
A fresh seed in a pot has turned into a seedling in under 2 weeks. I'm told ...Read Morethat all I can look forward to is a tree; given that these are particularly beautiful trees, no one's complaining. We live in a 10a-zone, and the Emperors we consume through May and June come from a much, much cooler upcountry area.

Emperor's may be the perfect lychee. It is a small spreading tree (semi-dwarf)-can be maintained in a pot or to about 10' with periodic ...Read Morelight pruning (especially after harvest). This makes the plant easy to protect in lychee marginal growing areas-such as where I live in zone 9a-FL. If in zone 9a, plant on the southeast side of a building, pond, or high overhang of a shade tree (prune out the lower brances for light penetration). If colder than 9a, stick to container growing. VERY large fruits with mainly small seeds-Good combination) and emperors have fairly good, dependable production. Best of all very good taste and beautiful shorter-fat leaves that curve backwards and are pink when young turning glossy green. Said to be slow growing, but I notice they grow at a moderate-semi fast rate with good attention to watering and fertilizing-use a citrus fertilizer with light but frequent doses during the growing season. Cut off fertilizing and excess watering by mid august to encourage winter dormancy. This variety is in very high demand and may be hard to locate. If found, you may find yourself paying a high price for them. Shop around.