Asimina, 'Maria's Joy' pawpaw

Variety description:  An early ripening cultivar best suited for the northern end of the pawpaws range. Consistently bears an annul crop of medium to large fruit. This cultivar won the award for Best Fruit at the 2012 Ohio Pawpaw festival. 

This variety resulted from the breeding work of the late Jerry Lehman of Terre Haute, IN. It was named after Maria Plekhanovna, who guided Jerry and five other American fruit explorers around the former Soviet Union in 1991.

Site requirements: Full sun location with evenly moist soil. Pawpaws will grow in the shade but fruit set will be poor.

Size at maturity: Trees can be maintained at about 15' tall. Pawpaws sucker readily.

Pests and diseases: None.

Hardiness: Native from New York west to southeastern Nebraska, and south to northern Florida and eastern Texas. Will grow in USDA zones 5-9.

Plant size: Grafted tree, about 1-2' tall with a well developed root system. Grown in 4" x 9" tree pot.

When we ship: FALL 2025

Shipping restrictions: None.