Growing Pawpaws at Hortus Arboretum and Botanical Garden

16.09.2024 - 04:26 / finegardening.com / GPOD Contributor

Happy Monday GPODers!

We’ve got a very educational submission today, courtesy of a very intrepid couple who have taken an appreciation for plants and transformed it into a lifestyle that allows them to inspire and educate on their amazing land in Stone Ridge, NY that they share with the public. Instead of looking at garden beds or container plantings (though, we might be able to encourage them to share more photos of their incredible arboretum and botanical garden if we’re lucky), today we’re learning about an important and beautiful native tree.

Our gardening journey started 25 years ago when we moved to the lower Hudson Valley in New York. As visual artists, we first put in plants that were for our artwork, those that had interesting seedpods and flower parts as well as those that attracted interesting insects. We also knew we wanted cold-hardy fruit trees and, after doing some research, decided to put in several pawpaw trees (Asimina triloba, Zones 5–8)since we had heard the trees would take at least ten years to start fruiting. We also planted faster-growing fruiting plants like blueberries, blackberries, peaches and elderberries to name a few.

Fast forward and the 3-acre property of mostly grass has blossomed to a total of 21 acres, which is now a nonprofit level II arboretum-botanical garden that is open to the public to inspire and educate. With over 100 types of fruit and nut plants, pawpaws remain one of our most anticipated and beloved crops. The fruit ripens in mid to late September in our zone 6b growing environment, and since pawpaws are not sold at most commercial markets because of their short shelf-life, this is a great fruiting tree for a home gardener. Their fruit tastes like a combination of creamy