Lemon Season

Lemons are available in Australia all year, but the best of the domestic crop comes through from March to October, when Queensland's harvest is in full swing. The thinnest period is December and January. Lemon trees yield most of their crop in winter, so at the height of summer you're often relying on imports from the United States or cool-stored Australian fruit. Expect to pay noticeably more then.

Lemons are in season across winter and autumn in Australia, with peak supply from March to August.

Lemons grow across a wide range of Australian climates on grafted rootstock. Commercial orchards start producing in their third or fourth year and remain productive for 20 to 30 years. Unlike stone fruit or pome fruit, lemons don't need cold dormancy. Eureka and Meyer can flower several times a year in coastal and warmer climates, producing a continuous trickle between the main winter flush. Growers can also manage irrigation and nutrition to shift some production into the summer window, when domestic supply is tight and prices stronger, per Citrus Australia's Lemon Growing Manual.

Lisbon lemon was first grown in Australia in 1824. Eureka, now the most widely planted variety, traces its lineage to seeds imported from Sicily and selected in California in 1858. The two most commercially important Australian selections, Taylor and Lambert, were selected from NSW trees in the mid-1950s, per Citrus Australia's Lemon Growing Manual. Queensland leads at around 69% of national supply (Far North QLD and the subtropical southeast), NSW contributes about 15%, VIC around 7% (Murray Valley and Riverland border), SA 6% (Riverland around Renmark and Waikerie), and the NT and WA together around 4%, per the Citrus Australia Tree Census 2020.