Folliage Follow-Up: August 2017
Welcome to my Foliage Follow-up. Normally I don't do a foliage follow-up but today, I really wanted to talk about my new favorite foliage in the garden....the Papaya (Carica papaya). It all started with a meeting at work. They had catered in snacks for us, which is very out of the ordinary. On the one fancy fruit tray was half a papaya full of seeds. I got it in my head then and there that I needed the seeds and needed to grow them.
So I talked to the event manager at work and took home a cup half full of fresh papaya seeds and went home to do some research on how to proceed. I let them dry out and then turned them over to the true Plant Geek and he germinated them for me. It took a little while, but we got quite a few to germinate and start growing, then they all sort of stalled out. A few died and the rest were looking very pitiful. We ended up adding a papaya tree (T. R. Hovey) onto a nursery order we were already making just in case. As you can see below, some of our little seedlings made it and are doing great. They will spend the winter in the greenhouse and be put out in the garden next spring.
The one we purchased online is planted out in the back row of the tropical garden. It's taller than the fence and the leaves are enormous. They really add some great texture to that part of the garden. The Banana and Alocasia leaves are so smooth and solid compared to the open Papaya leaves.
We have a few buds forming so maybe we'll get flowers. Through research I've learned that there are male flowers, female flowers, and hermaphrodite flowers. T. R. Hovey has hermaphrodite flowers. Hermaphrodite flowers are most sought after by growers as they are self pollinating and can give you a papaya fruit.
Papaya trees grow best in USDA growing zones 9 and 10
Read more at Gardening Know How: Papaya Tree Facts: Growing Info And Care of Papaya Fruit Trees https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/fruits/papaya/growing-papaya-fruit.htm
Read more at Gardening Know How: Papaya Tree Facts: Growing Info And Care of Papaya Fruit Trees https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/fruits/papaya/growing-papaya-fruit.htm
Papaya trees grow best in zones 9 and 10 and I live in zone 8a, so I doubt I'll end up with any fruit. Still it is a pretty neat plant in the garden. Thanks for visiting for my August foliage followup. If you want to see more fabulous foliage join up with Pam at Digging, for her Foliage Follow-up.
Only a true plant addict sees papaya seeds on a fancy fruit tray and finds a way to plant them. How cool that you had such success. Papaya leaves are gorgeous; thanks for sharing yours and their story!
ReplyDeleteHope you eventually are able to harvest the fruit. I see on the FB site Houston Gardening that some folks have papaya growing. Will have to see if they are able to get ripe fruit. Some winters here are mild, others we get a freeze or two.
ReplyDeleteI had to agree...there is NOTHING as gorgeous as a well grown papaya tree. Yours look stunning! I've also grown them from seed. They start slowly, but by the time summer arrives, they explode with growth. They LOVE rich soil. David
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