Pawpaw and Elderberry Seedlings
/I ordered Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) and Elderberry Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) seedlings from Missouri’s George O. White State Forest Nursery (a service provided by the Missouri Department of Conservation)….and they came last week! There were 10 seedlings for each species – the plan was for me to plant half of them in my yard and my daughter getting the rest for hers.
The box came in the evening, and I opted to plant the next day. They came in a box wrapped in paper backed plastic held in place with ties. The tops of some were showing at the top.
There was an instruction sheet that got a little damp even though it was outside the wrapping. The seedlings themselves had been packed with damp moss. They were labeled – the pawpaw is the darker bark/roots and the elderberry – aside from being lighter in color – had leaves beginning to emerge.
Digging the 10 holes was work; the day was cool but very humid. I planted 3 elderberry in the front yard native plant garden (these were the only easy holes because they were in mulch!), all the pawpaw in an area of my backyard that will become my pawpaw patch (it already had one plant that I purchased last fall), and the other 2 elderberry at two places in my back yard. It had rained not long before I planted, and rain was in the forecast, so I packed down the soil around them and let nature take over.
I finished up and took the remaining seedlings to my daughter…left her to dig her own holes. It was an exhausting day.
I hope at least half of what I planted survive….would be thrilled if more did. Getting seedlings this way was less expensive than buying that many plants from at native plant sales, but I am not as confident about their survival.
