Squeezed out
Plant a variety of fruit, and hope the citrus makes it
Once the joy of South Louisiana gardens, satsumas were the ideal citrus—sweet, seedless and peeled in a single satisfying spiral. But their reign, along with that of lemons and limes, is fading.
Why it matters: The freeze and snow of 2025 felled many of Baton Rouge’s citrus trees, sparing only those coddled through the cold. The broader culprit is climate volatility—droughts in summer, frost in winter—that has turned yards into battlegrounds for survival. Only one in twenty citrus trees has endured the whipsaw weather, says Sage Roberts Foley of Baton Rouge Green.
What to watch: The nonprofit is now pivoting from citrus to sturdier fare—figs, peaches, pineapple guava, and persimmon. The mission remains: to keep Baton Rouge fruitful, giving us new flavors—jammy figs, velvety peaches, pucker-up persimmon.
The bottom line: Planting citrus in Louisiana is a bit like pressing your luck at the blackjack table. Your best move is to spread the bet with a mix of fruit trees and hope the satsuma makes it.
