First Pawpaw Sprout of 2017: June 22

Last year on 7 June I found the first pawpaw sprouts of the year (they were also the first pawpaw seeds I had ever germinated and as far as I remember the first seeds of any kind I had ever generated since my kindergarten bean seed was a terrible failure).

This year I planted forty seeds and have been waiting--patiently until 7 June and impatiently since 7 June. But finally after a fortnight's delay, the suspense is over. This morning after our run, I watered the seeds and found this:

It's just one sprout among the forty seeds...

...but I'm sure more will be showing up over the next week or so. And last year I had sprouts coming up into late July.

I guess the difference between last year and this year is that last year I planted at the beginning of March and kept the seeds inside until around the beginning of May or maybe mid-May. This year I planted in mid-March and kept the seeds outside in the cold right after I planted them. I don't know if the couple weeks' difference in sprout time stems for the couple weeks' difference in planting time or from the temperature difference between the two years. Or both. But I guess in the future I'll plant at the beginning of March and keep inside until about mid-May.