Discover the charm of menton lemons and how to grow citrons in france

SUE ADAMS EXPLORES THE RICH HISTORY OF FRANCE'S ONLY IGP-RECOGNISED LEMON, CELEBRATED ANNUALLY AT A VIBRANT FESTIVAL Perhaps you grow a lemon tree in a pot in your French garden – I

certainly do. It was one of the horticultural novelties of moving to France. To pick a lemon from your own tree and slice it into a cold drink is a luxury of life in warmer climes and if you

give your pot the correct care and shelter in colder weather your lemon tree will thrive. But did you know there is a lemon indigenous to France, which is commercially cultivated in open

ground and which flowers and fruits (at the same time) all year round? THE CHARM OF SWEET MENTON LEMONS This is the Menton lemon – named after the town on the Côte d'Azur, where an

annual lemon festival is held each February/March. The Menton lemon is sweeter and less acidic than the traditional citron and is perfect for cooking. The sweetness and its richness in

essential oils also give this lemon the ability to resist frost to a greater degree than others and it has excellent keeping qualities. It can be grown successfully on the Côte d'Azur

because of the local micro-climate, which usually protects it from frost – so it is not a variety you should attempt to plant directly into your garden or orchard elsewhere on mainland

France. The Menton lemon is also a prolific fruiter – you can get up to 15 lemons per branch - many more than with other varieties. This versatile little fruit was popular for centuries with

up to 80,000 trees flanking the hillsides around Menton, but agricultural production declined late in the 19th Century as the local population became more involved in servicing a growing

tourist industry, and the variety was almost lost. A severe frost in 1956 sounded a potential death knell for the fruit, but, in about 1980, a small group of farmers in the Menton area

started to replant it, saving the French lemon industry. In 2004, l’Association pour la Promotion du Citron du Menton (APCM) was established and in 2015 the fruit became recognised

officially by the EU as having an Indication Geographique Protegée or IGP status. It is the only French lemon to achieve this recognition, which requires the lemons to be grown in only five

designated communes within the Alpes-Maritimes department. The trees must also be grown within 7km of the sea and at less than 390m above sea level.  Industrialised production is impossible

because the land around Menton is mountainous and the steep hillsides mean that the work of cultivation and harvesting has to be done by hand.  Despite this, production has flourished and

the Menton lemon has become something of a celebrity, capitalising both on its potential as a tourist attraction and its contribution to French culinary traditions. Read more: How passionate

farmers are reviving Menton’s iconic lemon FÊTE DU CITRON Since 1934, the Fête du Citron in Menton has been an annual event – celebrating the fruit for a three week period from late

February into March. The town is flooded with lemons – in the form of sculptures, fabulous floats, parades, exhibitions and general lemon-related festivities.  About 200,000 visitors are

welcomed into Menton as the vibrant displays shake off the strictures of winter and welcome spring with a sea of yellow.  Over 3,000 hours are spent creating amazing monuments to the lemon,

with decorations using up to 140 tons of fruit.  This year is the 91st anniversary of the festival, held between February 15 and March 2 with a theme of: Journey to the Stars. The festival

has its own website: fete-du-citron.com WHEN FRENCH LIFE GIVES YOU LEMONS Growing lemons throughout the rest of France is, of course, very different. The best varieties to choose from are

the Eureka, dwarf Eureka and Lisbon lemons. They are a little fussy about their requirements and respond best to being planted in citrus-specific compost or, failing that, an ericaceous one.

In early spring scrape off the top few centimetres of the soil in the plant’s existing pot and top dress with fresh compost – or re-pot one size up if necessary. Then increase watering and

feeding, using a citrus-specific fertilizer and continue to feed the plant all year. Lemons need lots of water in summer, but they do not like to sit in it. In winter, they should only be

watered sparsely.  Keep the lemon tree in a sunny spot and you should have flowers and fruit all year round, just like the Menton lemon.