North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Pat Meadows <pat@containerseeds.com>]

>
>Pat,
>I've copied and pasted the following blurb on the PA Golden series of 
>pawpaw selections from John H. Gordon's online catalog.  I don't know much 
>about the geography/topography of PA, but sounds like these selections came 
>(maybe?) from your area, and might be worth a try.
>
>"Asimina triloba Pawpaw - PA Golden Strain Pawpaw is early ripening. Coming 
>from the deep, cold valleys above Harrisburg, PA it ripens its whole crop 
>in unusually cool seasons, less than 2300 growing degree days >50F. We get 
>an unusually cool season once in eight, or so, years. As often we get a 
>2900 GDD year when everything ripens. All pawpaw trees survive cold summer 
>and winters here, but selection with the larger fruit ripen few fruit  in 
>our 2300 GDD season, while that same year all their fruit ripened in Ohio 
>and similar climates in Pennsylvania. PA Golden 1, PA Golden 2, PA Golden 
>3, and PA Golden 4 are grafted selections. Their rich yellow flesh 
>indicates ripeness in early September. The named pawpaw are grafted, and a 
>few PA Golden 1 are lifted sprouts on their own roots when specified.

Thanks, that does sound promising.  

I don't know what they meant by the 'deep cold valleys above
Harrisburg' either.  But we're pretty far from Harrisburg -
about 150 miles north of it and in a totally different
climate than Harrisburg.  

It has taken a while for just how cold this area of
Pennsylvania really is to sink into my brain. Our nearest
large city is Buffalo, NY, which indicates something, I
suppose.  We don't often get Lake Effect Snow (being about
150 miles from Buffalo) but we do sometimes get the edges of
it.  Actually, we are about 150 miles from everywhere... <g>
which is one reason I love living here.

We're at about 1700 feet altitude and just a little south of
the NY State Line.  

Our location:

http://www.visittiogapa.com/location

But it still sounds promising.

>You might check the variety evaluations at the KYSU Pawpaw page 
>(www.pawpaw.kysu.edu); I think I recall Kirk Pomper remarking that PA 
>Golden was a very good performer, at least here in KY.

Will do.  Thanks again.

Pat
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