Pawpaw Trees

When we left New York we brought a trailer full of plants down to our new home.  Three pawpaw trees came along for the ride.  This is typically a plant that does not like to be transplanted, so when they were unceremoniously dug out of the ground and put into old nursery pots with a bunch of mulch, we didn't have a lot of hope for all three making it.  Who knew that they would flourish in those pots.  In fact it was two years later that they finally got re-potted into better looking pots that actually had real potting soil in them. 

Pawpaws (Asimina triloba) are a type of native fruit tree.  Last summer our trees actually started to produce fruit, until a squirrel or possum knocked it off and took a few bites.  They didn't even have the decency to eat the entire thing.  Apparently they taste like a combination of banana, mango and pineapple.  It usually takes more than one tree to get proper pollination.  Pawpaws are spring bloomers and this year, one of our three trees has actually bloomed.  I'm pretty sure that this, coupled with our mild winter, will result in no fruit this year.   

Our trees are going to be relocated into a permanent home in the new shade tropical garden this summer.  I hope they handle this move as well as their cross country one.  Pawpaws are hard to find in the nursery trade.  Ours came from Catskill Native Nursery in Kerhonkson, NY and since they don't ship plants, I'm not sure how we would replace them.