I think you have a lot of choices. Depends on what you want to attract. My vote would be a Paw Paw tree. People will respond that it needs to be in shade. This is not true. I have several growing in full sun and there are paw paw orchards with rows of paw paws in full sun. They can get sun scald their first few years so you should protect them a little bit. I didn't and yes, they got some sun scald but this is their third year and they look great. Mind you we have had, like 99% cloud cover for two months now :(. Anyway, the tree has large tropical looking leaves. In full sun it takes an almost pyramidal shape to it. It is lovely. You can trim the ends of the branches to shape it a little and keep it the height you want. It responds well.

I will leave other suggestions to others!

Cheers,
Elisabeth

Don't listen to Elisabeth. She knows nothing. If she knew something, she would check her email more often. Hint hint, Elisabeth.

Kidding aside, I'd vote Ptelea trifoliata. It grows 15' to 20' tall and 12' to 15' wide. Supports both eastern and western tiger swallowtails, two-tailed swallowtails and giant swallowtails, depending on where you live.

As for the Hakuro Nishiki, that seems shorter than you want. Plus, since it is a foreign tree, I would want some confirmation that some local butterflies will actually use it as a hostplant before I'd be planting it. Cecropia moths are the only lepidoptera I found that will supposedly eat it in the US.

KC

Lol KC! Wafer Ash (Ptelea trifoliata) was my second choice.
I will now go and check my email.
-Elisabeth

Do you know whether the Wafer Ash has invasive roots and if it can be planted near the house? I am trying to find a tree for similar purposes, but have to find one that can be planted close to my house. Thanks, Murray

I would vote for paw paw also. It is a beautiful tree in its own right.
I nearly feel over when I was at a local nursery and found a good sized tree. I am going back this week to get it.

Murray;
No the Ptelea does not have invasive roots. It is a very nice little tree. It is an understory tree and I have not tried growing it in full sun. It would probably need a lot of water to start, if you grow it near the house. Mine is growing under a couple trees and it gets very dry. However, it did survived last year's end of summer drought nicely considering I would forget to water it...whoops!

We grow it in the house with a 40% shade cloth. I have never seen a sucker. Not like prickly ash or paw paw. In fact this tree is so desirable any seedling would have been carted off by the staff but alas it is a difficult germinator. It takes two years to germinate.

Cheers,
Elisabeth

Great stuff, thanks!

I probably should have stated that I'm in Pennsylvania. I put in plants that host Monarchs, fritilliarys, and black swallowtails, I plan to put in some spicebush as well in the near future.

kcclark, I was hoping to get some insight on the Hakuro.
I wondered the e same about b-flies not using it because it wasn't an indigenous species. I was hopeing someone would have chimed in and said butterflies love it, I've always thought it was such a beautiful plant!

Thanks all,
mark

Do you have to know if you have a male or female paw paw? If its female, do you have to worry about the fruits dropping in your yard?

I don't remember ever seeing the Hakuro willow mentioned on this forum, Mark. Unfortunately, all I can tell you is it may or may not be used by willow-using butterflies.
Viceroys and even red-spotted purples love the native willow Salix nigra, but I wanted a small willow years ago and planted some S. caroliniana - they only laid one or two eggs on them. Various posters in the past have reported that they DO use weeping willow/S. babylonica, a non-native, but it gets big.

Most of the favorite butterfly host plant trees get real big - the small trees mentioned in the above posts are exceptions. My butterfly field guide shows zebra swallowtails as only occurring in the western and southern parts of PA, so if you're in the northern or eastern part, the pawpaw probably won't be used by anything but moths. Ptelea trifoliata is host to giant swallowtails and tiger swallowtails, and, according to the same field guide, they both occur in the entire state of PA, so if I were you, I'd go with the Ptelea. I have several of them - they're the favorite host plant for giant swallowtails, and I find tiger cats on them occasionally. The only objection to it is that when you brush up against it, it has a faint skunk odor - just don't brush up against it!
Elisabeth, one year when mine made a lot of seeds, I put the seeds in a little brown paper bag, which I put in my closet. I planted them the next spring, and the germination rate was huge - about 95% or more. Each seed made two sprouts, very unusual.
Sherry

I have 3 pawpaws myself so I'm a pawpaw fan. But, I have seen a HUGE pawpaw at one of our metroparks. If they get full sun, they can go 40'.

misssherry,
I'm in south central PA, just outside of Harrisburg, and do occasionally see zebras in the area.

Skunk odor?...I'm not so much worried about MYSELF brushing up against it... It's my rather rambunctious 3 year old Chocolate Lab "Mousse" I'm concerned with! LOL!

I know dogs can get into mischief and bring funny things and odors into the house, spaceman13! I've got three - two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and an old maltese - and my daughter moved in with us a year ago with her two Schnauzers!
If zebra swallowtails visit you, then the only solution is to plant both Ptelea AND pawpaw! :)
Sherry

You sold me on the Ptelea, Elisabeth. I am going to order one today. Misssherry, as usual you are right about the appeal S. babylonica has for the western tigers but it does get huge. In fact, yesterday I had a difficult time removing one I have kept in a pot for years because it was again sending roots into the ground right by my neighbor's driveway. We have difficulties enough as she hates trees and plants growing near her property line and I have always tried hard to respect that. But a Ptelea nearby me even on a small site which is what I have sounds wonderful. Thanks. Murray

spaceman13,

Define "just outside of Harrisburg" for me. I lived in Wormleysburg for a couple years in the early '90s. Of the areas I've lived, it is my favorite.

KC

Thats real close! I'm in Shiremanstown, along Simpson Ferry Rd, between Mechanicsburg and Camp Hill.

It is a beautiful area! I've become quite fond of kayaking the Susquehanna. I put in at the public launch site in Wormleysburg, and paddle up towards the Rockville bridge.
Last year, kayaking the Susquehanna from City Island to the Juniata to , we saw 5 different Bald Eagles!

Mark

Was just reminded why I like my wafer ash. Was just looking it over for GST eggs. Instead I found three tiger swallowtail eggs. I can't complain ;)

I know exactly where Shiremanstown is. Almost rented a townhouse there from the guy who own's Witmer Shoes (or whatever the exact title of the store is).

KC

OMG!
Ditmer's shoes? Was the guy's name Marlin?

I worked at the Texaco gas station on old Gettysburg rd/Wesly drive, owned by his nephew Charlie Jr and run by his Marlin's brother, Charlie Sr.

Ditmer's shoes is right. I have no memory what the guy's first name was. I think I moved to the area in '91. I'd say the guy would have been in his mid 50s at the time.

I would have driven by that Texaco quite often but I doubt I ever stopped. The Texaco by me had a deal on premium one day every week so that is where I gassed up.

My favorite store was Ollie's. For my honeymoon, I drove from Columbus to the Poconos. Stopped in the Harrisburg area to visit my friends and going shopping at Ollie's. Ollie's opened 2 stores in the Columbus area last year so I finally get to go to Ollie's on a regular basis again.

Now I want to move to the Harrisburg area....

Catherinet, paw paws have both male and female parts to the same flower but they mature at different times. That is why you need at least two trees. As to the fruit. If you are lucky and get fruit, you will have to fight every critter for them. I don't think I have ever found a paw paw fruit on the ground unless it is not ripe. One of the difficulties of paw paws is that they do not change color when they are ripe. This makes it difficult to tell, and you DO NOT want to eat an unripe one (it won't taste good anyway). It can make you sick. I have seen a patent application for a paw paw that changes color. It is one of the things horticulturalists are working on.

Cheers,
Elisabeth

Kcclark,
Yep that was him. I left the gas station in 1988.
Small world, eh?
and yes, EVERYONE loves Ollie's Bargain Outlet! LOL!!!

Mark

I have a harlequin glory bower tree, and when the flowers come there are tons of butterflies on this tree. It is absolutely gorgeous!!

Miss Sherry, I just read your note about your germination rate for Ptelea. That is remarkable! It must be your special touch because I know two really, really, knowledgeble horticulturalists who tried with little success until they waited another year.
-Elisabeth