Your own Tahitian lime bush will provide fresh fruit over a very long season. This provides the pleasure of having the fruit on hand whenever you want it, without the bother or expense of having to head to the greengrocer’s.

Tahitian limes are easy to grow providing they have a sunny, sheltered spot, such as against a north facing wall where there will be lots of reflected heat to boost their crops. The ultimate height of three metres is for unpruned bushes - a bit of attention with the secateurs and the height can be maintained at about half this.

The deep green foliage and slightly lighter green fruits of Tahitian limes makes them intriguing to mingle with bright flowers and foliage. Golden or deep red nasturtiums sprawling around them can give that slightly wild, exuberant look. For a little more formality, surround the bush with lavenders and sweet smelling herbs such as marjoram, origanum and golden foliage thyme. All-summer pleasure is attained by planting several of the dwarf, deep purple-blue Heliotrope ‘Baby Marine’ in the foreground of a lime bush. The flowers of this very low growing plant have a powerful and most appealing fragrance, hard to describe but with hints of vanilla and pineapple.

The dark green Tahitian lime foliage is also intriguing as a companion to the colourful Swiss chards, the red, yellow and pink flamboyant versions of silver beet which remain colourful for an extraordinarily long time.

Low growing perennials can be very effective companions for Tahitian limes too. There are some stunning new ones to try, such as Centaurea ‘Gold Bullion’, with yellow foliage and striking deep blue flowers, and Geranium ‘Rozanne’, one of the hardy cranesbill type geraniums which has elegant blue flowers over many months in spring and summer.

One thing to remember: don’t dig deeply close to a lime tree as the roots are near the surface and easily damaged.