Tree fruit

 

Pawpaws have dropped!

 After they've dropped, they can be eaten... I prefer to peel first, but it isn't really necessary.... 

Or is it? I've read that the peel & seed contains toxins... I've also read that toxicity may be mostly myth.

Persimmons!

 

Pears...

I've been picking and eating for a couple weeks... they're getting ripe enough to enjoy.

Dwarf Pawpaw & Gopher Tortoise

 

Mature dwarf paw paw 'tree'... Height waist high to chest high.

Loaded with fruit this year... But tiny!

 They're starting to drop... I pick them up and eat... plant seeds in pots. I tried planting seeds in flower garden a number of years ago when I got a few fruit... Unfortunately none came up...

I may need to try scarification.

Fruit on regular tree is still hard...

So bizarre watching gopher tortoise eating cnidoscolus... Aka "7 minute itch". I wouldn't want to try it...

Just brushing against cnidoscolus stimulosus feels like getting attacked by fire ants... and if unlucky enough to scratch irritated skin, may continue to scratch for the rest of the day!

Imagine getting a mouthful of that! But I see the tortoises browsing the plant every summer!

Actually, I may have some idea of how a mouthful of  cnidoscolus might feel...

I had a mouthful of fire ants yesterday... Pretty funny, grabbed a handful of potato chips from the bottom of bag, popped in mouth without examining... Had to pick fire ants off my tongue using mirror!

Paw paws

 Back when I first came to Gardens in the Sand... I purchased some paw paw seed... 

The seed came up readily when I planted them in nursery pots.... Eventually I spread them around... Everybody that wanted paw paw trees got one.

Unfortunately... it takes more than a single seedling to bear fruit. Since then, the root suckers of the different plantings have been getting moved around.

So... I finally have fruit this year!

Low hanging fruit

Fruit in bowl

Sliced paw paw fruit

So finally seeing fruit from seed planted in '07, isn't really the headline here... More interesting, is the fact that I'm able to grow Asimina triloba in the sandhills without supplemental watering.


Our existing locally native dwarf paw paw (Asimina parviflora) gets by on the rain that God provides...

But I seldom see fruit. One year I beat the possums and raccoons to the fruit on my locally native bush... and planted the seed... Sadly none grew.

I originally ordered seed over the internet because I wanted to see more zebra swallowtail butterflies...

Zebra swallowtail butterflies

They're awfully pretty... But I can't really say that I'm actually seeing more of them than before... Can't hardly hurt though.