Pawpaws in the Christmas Snow

Not much snow had fallen in our part of Utah until Christmas day, when we woke up to a good six to eight inches. We've been staying inside with colds (not hiking in southern Utah and not tending to the pawpaws), and a few days ago NJ and I spent some time water-coloring. Here's a painting I started (but haven't yet completed), of an arroyo we've gone to sometimes. This is from a photo we took a few autumns ago.

But onward to the pawpaws in the Christmas snow. If I had taken the pictures on Christmas day, there would be picturesque snow hanging from the boughs. But since I waited until today, the pawpaws aren't so picturesque, and the main aesthetic experience offered by some of these pics may involve admiring the sublime and snowy mountains in the background. (And unfortunately, for some viewers, that aesthetic experience may be mixed with envy.)

The Wells cultivar

The Susquehanna cultivar in its snow-laden cage

Left to right: The KSU-Atwood, the Shenandoah, and the Mango in its screened-in cage

Close-up of the Mango, which (true to One Green World's claims) grew quite quickly over the summer, much faster than the Susquehanna.

After looking at the pawpaws out in the snow, I started wondering about the pawpaws that had come in from the cold. So I walked around to the shed and took a look. The soil seemed a little hard, hopefully not too freeze dried, as if they needed some water. (You can see some mineralization on the top of the soil of a couple of the pawpaws--I thought it was frost until I touched it.)

So I took the seedlings outside and gave them each a clump of snow, for now, making a mental note to give them water occasionally in the future.

Then I put them back in the shed where the snow will slowly melt.