Patty, I do believe you that there is only a short season for them where you are. BD’s conditions are more similar to yours than to mine. However, although this may be the last bloom cycle for the season, I usually get one more cycle in October. Both Bearss and Key limes start blooming mid-winter and continue their ~6 wk cycles of flushing, blooming, and briefly resting throughout spring, summer and into fall for me, although the later cycles bloom much more sparsely. I wind up getting juicy fruit from June into the beginning of the next year.
My limes have very different growing conditions from SoCal. Mine have very hot, humid summers with cool late autumn and spring, and spend their winter in a very brightly lit grow tent with days in the 80’s and nights in the upper 50’s. I don’t doubt that the winter conditions affect their growth and bloom cycles, but I don’t think that is the reason they bloom multiple times throughout summer. Perhaps it has to do with the high summer temperatures or late summer/autumn rains. Maybe those are irrelevant to blooming and it is more due to summer fertilization routines. I don’t know. It could just be that citrus and figs “like” me more than stone fruits and apples that I struggle to get decent fruit from.
