I'm jealous, too, Mary!
There are quite a few different types of native Florida pawpaws you can grow, if only you can find them for sale somewhere!
Asimina triloba might grow down your way, I don't know, it may need more winter chilling than it'd get that far south.
Sherry

Oh, I think I'm the third one being jealous! Wow, what a nice picture! I would love to get them here someday! Lucky me, I am going to buy some Asimina triloba seeds from someone online who I know I can trust and I hope to get some trees started here. They're slow growers so I guess I'll have to wait awhile. I think the Zebra Swallowtails are absolutely gorgeous!
Cathy

Mary, that is one gorgeous image of the ZST! I, too, am black and white striped with envy!

Susan

Caterwallin;

It's best to find seeds on your own or buy a plant. Seed germination goes below 10% if they dry out. They need to be stratified for a period of time. I think 60 days and then germination is slow. I mean really slow. Fifty days to see something. I germinated a few this year. I started them indoors in march and it took till June to see two leaves. You will be much happier with buying a tree. There are a lot of great dealers on-line like nolin nut tree farm. Check out the KSU web site on paw paws, http://www.pawpaw.kysu.edu/. They are the authority on all things paw paw. Also, they can probably link you to people in your area who are growing paw paws. If you can find an orchard the owners will probably give you eggs or cats as they want to get rid of them.

I am working on my own fence line of paw paws to attract the zebra swallowtails! I can't wait either!
Cheers,
Elisabeth

I'm also envious! I have my one little pawpaw tree that I have nursed along now for 3 years. I got it as a little whip with 2 leaves. It is now 3 feet tall and fully leafed out. I got mine from a local native plant grower. A good source is Pine Ridge Gardens in Arkansas.

Zebra Swallowtails, I'm ready for you!

Sandy

Elisabeth, You are a wealth of information, thank you! I didn't know that the germination rate of paw paw seeds is that low. Wow, maybe I'll be lucky to get one or two to make it out of the 15 seeds that I ordered yesterday. :/ Sheesh, I guess I would have been better off in the first place to order a tree from a reputable person, not the one that I bought my two from that didn't even have roots when they arrived. That still ticks me off. Can you tell? lol I also didn't know that the seeds had to be stratified. I don't remember stratifying the seeds that I had bought last spring. I bought five and four of them came up, but only one of the trees is actually living today yet and it's not even a foot tall. So I can see that this is going to take a long time from seed.

I'm going to go on the website you told me about and learn more about them and hopefully find out about "maybe" someone in my area who's growing them, but I honestly have my doubts if there is anyone. If there are even any trees in my area, they're probably wild and I might have to end up finding them on my own if I want more seeds than what I already have coming in the mail. At the price of gas, I can't afford to aimlessly drive around. :( So if those Kentucky people can't lead me in the right direction, then I'll most likely buy a couple trees from Nolin Nut Tree Farm since you are recommending them. From now on if I ever want to buy any kind of plant, I'll ask for recommendations from people on here rather than just buying from some stranger advertising on an auction site. I know I'd be better off because anything better than zero is better.

So now I'm not sure how I should go about germinating these seeds. Since you said they need stratification for 2 months, I guess I'd have to put them in the frig as soon as I get them and then get them out towards the end of August when I will plant them. Then I probably won't see them popping out of the ground until October. At that late date, we will already have a frost, so I will definitely keep them in the house. At their rate of growth, I can picture me having 15 (if that many make it ha) little trees sitting in our cool laundry room on the windowsills until next spring. I'll sit them outside in the spring but I won't plant them out for a couple of years because I doubt if they'd make it being so small. I don't think I'd plant a tree out that's under 2 feet tall no matter what kind it is. Does all this sound like a good plan to you, considering that I have already ordered and paid for the seeds? Paw paw seeds aren't cheap, as I have found out. I mean, it's a tree, so in that respect they are probably in line with other seed prices, but the "per seed" price sounds like a lot. If I would pay the "per seed" price for a pack of 200 flower seeds that I paid for the paw paws, a pack of say, asters, would cost me $80.00! :-O Ha, at that rate, I don't think I'd be gardening.

I'd love to be able to find someone in the area who actually grows paw paws and I'd get the cats from them since like you said, I'm sure they'd be more than happy to get rid of them. Of course, if they spray their trees, I guess there wouldn't be any anyway, and these days with the way people are so spray-happy, I have trouble imagining them growing trees without spraying them, although it would be nice. I wouldn't be able to get any cats anyway for another few years yet when I will hopefully have some food for them. I'd love to have a paw paw grove! I've looked at lots of pictures of Zebra Swallowtails, probably more than any other cat pictures, and have been wanting them and now I wish I had bought from a reputable tree guy earlier. I'm not buying trees anymore this year now that it's going to be hot coming up soon. I had even ordered those "sticks" that came in the mail plenty ahead of time so I could plant them out before the hot weather set in. "The best laid plans of mice and men got oft' awry." -Robert Burns So it's back to the drawing board for me and hopefully things will work out from now on.

Ooh, that fenceline of paw paws that you are working on sounds nice! How many plants do you think you'll end up planting there? Are you going to trim them or let them grow? Have you seen Zebras in your area at all?

Cathy

Doing some research, this site looks interesting. I would especially note the seventh paragraph, about the seedling needs. I guess it sounds like a cutting is pretty much not an option, and that digging up plants also doesn't work much.
-Jmcat

Thanks for the link, Jmcat. It was very interesting reading. I also would like to add that it's my understanding that to have fruit you have to have at least 2 trees. It is not a self-pollinating plant.

Sandy

Okay, let's see if I can remember all the questions. KSU has a fact sheet on starting paw paws. Now first of all we are talking about Asimina Triloba. That is the common paw paw found as far north as Canada. There are a lot of other paw paws and most of them are from the south (http://plants.usda.gov/java/ClassificationServlet?source=profile&symbol=ASIMI&display=63). Many of those may be options if you are far south and the paw paw tree does not grow well for you there.

To start seeds, they must not dry out. Separate the seed from the fruit, rinse them in a 10% bleach sol. Place them in ziplock bags with moist sphagnum moss. Then place them in the fridge. Alternatively, place them outside if it gets cold enough. I use 2L pop bottles. They have large tap roots and so I fill the pop bottles within three inches of the top. I cut the top, not off, but enough to bend it over and then tape it back on to make a mini-greenhouse. This is a wintersowing method and can be used to stratify if you are doing outside or just to keep them moist inside.
They need to be stratified for a while. Check the KSU site for exact information.

Because they have large taproots,they do not transplant well. So decide where you want them to go. I do know of some plants being moved successfully, but it's not recommended. For the first year they must be shaded. Then after that, they can take full sun. They look better with full sun. They form a nice pyramidal shape. Do not prune them the first year or two. After that, you can prune them to keep them smaller. I visited a gentleman who has a paw paw farm here. He said that he can plant 9 paw paws at the same time, from the same batch, and some shoot up and some don't. Eventually, they all catch up.

To get fruit (which will take 4-7 years..sigh), you need two genetically distinct plants. The flowers are monoecious (same house)and have both male and female parts. However, those parts will not open at the same time. They are not self fertilizing and are lazy pollinators. I hear some people say "I have never seen any fruit" and others say "I have paw paws coming out of my ears". I was told by my paw paw grower to grow them 8 feet apart to help with fertilization.

The trees are tough and have few major pest problems. So, they usually do not spray them. Zebras are not a major pest problem. They usually just pick them off. They can be a problem on seedlings. They don't fertilize them till a year old and then a balanced 10-10-10. Plant them with some manure and peat moss. They like lot's of water that first year too.

I hope that covers most of it. Let me know if you have any other questions. There is a real interest out there in paw paws and more and more sources are coming available. KSU has a source list as well.

Cheers,
Elisabeth