I believe that pawpaws are understory trees and need part shade (afternoon) to do best, so doesn't sound likely. However, I don't know what the summers are like in MD, either! When you say middle of the deck, are you planting this in a planter in the middle of a patio or in a planter ON the deck?
Anyway, Amur maple or Shantung maple might have the shape you need...Shantung has yellow flowers in spring.
hortster

You'll probably have an easier time finding trident maple than shantung. Those seem to be popular in the southwest or texas. Amur maple is an exotic that has been classified as a weed in much of the country, I would be surprised if maryland was not part of that.
Trident, amur, shantung... all non-natives.

American hornbeam comes to mind.

Seems like planting a tree to grow up in the middle of your deck would encourage birds and that would mean bird droppings you would need to constantly keep cleaned away.

Of course the same thing is often true with many types of sheltering roofs that people build over decks.

Guess the trick would be to find a sheltering type of roof which is not designed with structural features on the under side where birds could perch or roost.

do you mean in a pot ... ON THE DECK...

or cut a hole in the deck and grow it in the ground???

either way.. the umbrella sounds easiest

ken

A lot of good suggestions above. Immediately I think of Acer griseum, Paperbark maple. Acer truncatum (Shantung) is gonna be a bit too fast. Trident maple, a nice tree for that site. You might look at also, Acer triflorum. A *tip* - purchase seedling trees during fall when you have a chance to see their fall color, at the nursery.

As for trees with flowers or berries:
Xanthoceras sorbifolium
Cercis canadensis
Chionanthus virginicus
Cledastrus kentuckea/lutea
Cotinus coggygria
Davidia involucrata
Franklinia alatamaha
Stewartia ssp. look for single-trunk specimens. Same with all the others, too.

Dax

You'll have to: figure out how to water and not undermine footings, take up part of your deck, irrigate, prep the soil, plant, re-do deck. Doable, but you won't get shade for many years equivalent to an umbrella. Many people do such a feature and purchase an umbrella product in the interim.

I like gardener's list, and Xanthoceras is very multi-trunked and low-branching. But very nice.

Dan

I wonder how much mess the spent blooms of a flowering tree or even berries would make on your deck? Easy to keep swept, but probably annoying for awhile.

Thanks so much. I will look into these tree suggestions. I am liking the flowering trees and liking how dense the Acers would shade. Is dogwood not mentioned here because of sparse leaves?
Incidentally, I was wondering about the name of this certain tree that MD has been using for landscaping road sides, and it turns out to be Cotinus coggygria. That would fit my front yard well.

I didn't think about having the tree in a container until you guys mentioned. It would be good to have the tree in a big container first for a few years to make sure it will work out, maybe filled with soil from under deck mixed with compost, and then planting it under the deck floor.

maybe filled with soil from under deck mixed with compost, and then planting it under the deck floor.

No. Potting mix only. No garden soil in containers.

Dan

Xanthoceras sorbifolium is a very small tree--10 feet maybe after 7 or 8 years and has branches all the way to the ground.

Cotinus coggygria is a shrub, not a tree, and a very large one.

Franklinia is a suggestion for heartbreak. A very fussy tree that often just dies.

Even if you do have shade there. Lets say someone just plopped a mature tree there, you will still want an umbrella if you are planning on dining outside. The reason is because bird droppings will end up on your patio furniture at inconvenient times. That reminds me, you will probably want a tree with medium sized leaves so they can be swept off the deck but not so small that they end up under the deck or in the cracks.

The reason nobody mentioned dogwood is because you stated that your backyard is full sun and dogwoods need some shade.