Yuzu is very hardy as citrus goes. My friend grows it in Ibaraki prefecture, north of Tokyo. Not sure what zone it is, but definitely freezes and snow.

But Yuzu is not an orange by any stretch of the imagination. The zest and the juice are used as flavoring, the fruit isn't really eaten whole. In Japanese cooking it is used in sauces such as Ponzu, as a flavoring in soups, as well as in drinks and various sweets.

The taste and fragrance is unique and delightful... it is vaguely similar to lemon or lime, but clearly it's own fruit.

If you have a Japanese population in your area, you will have a market for it. It's one of their beloved flavors.

Funny, I just bought one today. I figure if nothing else I can use them for instances in which I'd use lemon.

Apparently they are mostly seed inside and have maybe a table spoon of juice per fruit.

Here is a link that might be useful: yuzu

In zone 8 you could try loquat as well. THey seem to be able to survive around -15C (as ornamentals) as the fruit buds are apparently damaged to around -5C. Or what about citrumelo (hardy grapefruit) or the old classic citrus triloba?

Also, I thought you said KUDZU and was wondering why you would buy such an invasive vine :P

I wonder where in zone 7 it has grown. I have my doubts it will do well. Most sources list it hardy to 10 degrees so it seems it would be best in zone 8 and warmer. Citrumelo is the only citrus I am aware of that does well in zone 7 unless you are in to lots of protection. I am not.

Greenthumbzdude, you'd probably be better off posting this over on the Citrus Forum. We have quite a few zone 7 and 8 folks growing cold-tolerant citrus there, and they can give you their opinion of this variety as well as other options :-) Another resource I would point you to is Stan McKenzie. He is pretty famous in the zone 7/8 world for growing commercial citrus both as trees for resale and also fruit. Stan has the method down and can tell you what varieties you'd have the best luck with, and the best method to grow them.

Patty S.

Here is a link that might be useful: McKenzie Farms Citrus

Nice...:)