Growing Pawpaw Trees: What I've Learned From Growing This Native Fruit
A few years ago, when I started thinking about how to make more of our suburban yard, I decided I wanted to include an edible landscape plan and try growing pawpaw trees.
I ordered two little pawpaw trees from Kentucky, planted them in our yard and waited.
And waited.
And waited some more. 😂
Then one year, we got a few pawpaws.
The next year, a few more.
And this year?
We are basically bathing in pawpaws!
Which has led to a lot of questions every time I share them online: What exactly is a pawpaw? Are they really native? What do they taste like? Do you need more than one tree? How long do they take to produce fruit? And perhaps most importantly...what on earth do you do when your trees suddenly decide to produce ALL THE PAW PAWS?
So, let's talk paw paws.
Paw Paw fruit on the tree in a suburban landscape paw paw fruit
One of the things I love most about edible landscaping: a plant doesn't have to be either beautiful, useful or beneficial to wildlife. Sometimes it gets to be all three. Welcome to the Paw Paw tree (Asimina triloba)!
The Paw Paw tree is somewhat of a trifecta:
a tree that bears fruit
a beautiful tree, actually
a host plant for the Zebra swallowtail butterfly, the exclusive host!
I came home last week to a few paw paws on the ground, which is the clue that it's paw paw season....and I wasn't ready! As I often prefer to do when possible, I decided to make an impromptu video for Instagram about my paw paw state of affairs and exactly what a paw paw is. The response was insane! It's my #1 best video EVER on Instagram and the questions were plentiful! This tells me folks are quite curious about our largest native fruit, so here are some other facts I shared:
What is a paw paw? Paw paw is the largest edible fruit native to the United States.
What does a paw paw taste like? A cross between a mango and a banana, with a custard-like consistency. Once a paw paw is "squeezable", it's decently ripe. Before that, it's worse than an unripe banana.
Can I grow a paw paw tree from seed? You can! But here's the deal with growing from seed:
The seeds can never dry out or they're ruined.
The seeds aren't edible, so don't eat them. And although the ripe flesh is edible, pawpaw isn't necessarily a “more is better” fruit. Some people experience digestive upset, so as with most things, moderation is probably a good plan.
The seeds need to go through a cold snap (cold stratification) in order to germinate, so the easiest way to do this is to plant the seeds in the fall and let nature do the rest. Otherwise, if you plant the seeds in a pot, it must be a deep one: the taproot of a paw paw seedling is pretty cranky and doesn't like being bothered, so make sure the pot is at least 9" deep if you plan on potting it first and transplanting it later.
What pollinates a paw paw? Flies! Beetles and flies, actually. Paw paws are kinda goofy in that the limbs will get flowers only on the tree- no leaves - and then the leaves start coming in later. Some people (I'm assuming who try to raise many paw paws or don't get many flies) actually put out rotting meat to attract flies..... Bees, by the way, don't pollinate paw paw trees.
Where does a paw paw grow? Across 25 states, mostly in the midwest and north into canada. They can be raised in the UK (and probably other places), but the paw paw tree needs hot weather and a decent amount of time to grow, so cool, short summers aren't cconducive to getting any fruit.
How tall does a paw paw tree grow? 15-30'. Ours stay about 15' and are in full sun. They are also fuller. In the wild, paw paws are found in the understory, so they can absolutely tolerate shade, but they get really tall, leggy and not nearly as tropical looking.
Can I grow just one paw paw tree? You certainly can, but if you want reliable fruit production, plant at least two genetically different pawpaw trees near each other for cross-pollination. Plant them within 15' of each other. Here's a list of places you can purchase varieties of paw paw trees!
Is a paw paw tree a host plant...and what does that mean? It means that a paw paw tree is the larval host of the Zebra swallowtail butterfly....of which we've had ZERO (insert my crying face HERE). A larval host/host plant means that a butterfly or moth needs that plant to lay their eggs on, because the leaves are the only thing the resulting caterpillars can eat as food. Every moth or butterfly has a specific plant or plant family that they use as a host plant. We've had no Zebra swallowtails because no one around us has paw paw trees; the closest is about 4 miles away, so there's no reason for those butterflies to fly all the way to our house just to lay their eggs. So if you live near me: please plant some paw paw trees!
As a last note about paw paws for those who live in it's native range: If you're gonna plant a tree, you may as well plant a native tree, because they're far easier to take care of. They need coddling way less than a non-native. And again, why not plant a tree that feeds you...and helps butterflies?
The author with a pile of paw paw fruit
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