Plant a Lemon Day is a holiday that’s observed annually on the third Saturday in May and encourages everyone to plant a lemon tree. Although not everyone lives in an area with a suitable climate for growing lemon trees, just about everyone can grow a dwarf lemon tree or citrus bonsai in a container in their home.

In locations where the average temperature never falls below 30 degrees, people can take the time to plant lemon trees in their community for everyone to use. No matter how this holiday is celebrated, however, we’re sure that this is one day of the year that’s going to be filled with plenty of lemon and lemon products.

The History Of Plant A Lemon Day

Lemons originated somewhere in Asia but quickly began to be cultivated in other areas of the world—most likely moved around thanks to the Silk Road and other trade routes that connected East and Southeast Asia with Persia, the Arabian Peninsula, East Africa, and Southern Europe.

The lemon was an almost immediate hit and people quickly planted lemon trees where they could to take advantage of all of the fruit these trees produced. Lemons quickly became a symbol of purification and longevity, and eventually would also become a symbol of love and friendship.

In the Catholic tradition, lemons have long been linked to fidelity as well. The lemon tree has been associated with the Virgin Mary because of this association. However, lemons aren’t just symbolic of positive traits. Lemons have also been associated with disappointment and bitterness because of their sour nature.

At this time, we do not know who invented Plant a Lemon Day. It’s a holiday that was evidently created by someone who loved lemons, but there’s simply not enough information on the subject.

It’s just not a holiday that’s well-documented. We’ll continue to try to find out the origins of this holiday and will update this article if we find out anything new, so be sure to check back.

Observing Plant A Lemon Day

People who live in areas where winters are mild can grow and don’t fall into the 20s can usually grow lemon trees outdoors. However, people who don’t live in hardiness zones 9 to 11 can still take the time to grow citrus bonsai trees, or our favorite, Dwarf Meyer Lemon Plants.

These plants only grow about 6 feet tall and are easy to grow in a pot in the home, or placed out on the patio during the summer months. They have to b hand pollinated if grown indoors but are self-pollinating when grown outdoors.

They will take about 3 years to bear lemons but once they do, they provide quite a few of them.  They’re perfect for indoor use and perfect for Plant a Lemon Day.