I've never found a tiger egg or cat on sweetbay, even though there's a lot of it on my property. Sweetbay is reportedly all that the tiger subspecies/P. glaucus australis - which, by the way, doesn't have black form females, just yellows - uses in south Florida, though. I'm not saying eastern tiger swallowtails/P. glaucus glaucus NEVER use sweetbay, but I certainly wouldn't plant any just for our eastern tigers.
It sounds like they're using ash for sure in your area. If I were you, I'd plant more ash, and if I had plenty of room, then I might plant a wild black cherry or tulip poplar. Ash doesn't grow naturally here, and it's not on my property, so I don't know how fast it grows, but wild cherry and tulip poplars are both fast growers.
Sherry

Thankyou for the help. I want to keep the trees small like shrubs so i can reach the top of the trees i have room for about 5 or 6 small trees. Are tiger swallowtails pretty much programmed for all the host plants they are going to use or do they usually prefer whats in the area, like ash for example? Because i dont want to plant a tulip poplar if they wont even go near it. Same with the cherry

I don't know for sure, but I do know, for example, that the big silk moths have definite preferences in some areas, and their preferences are based to some extent - not entirely - on what's available. That's why I recommended planting another ash - the tigers in your area may not know what wild cherry and tulip poplars are. Tigers are common and widespread, undoubtedly because they're so adaptable in regards to host plants - they use more plant families than just about any other butterfly, maybe variegated frits and buckeyes are close seconds.
Tulip poplars and wild cherries both grow real tall. If you could find some low growing, bushy type of ash, that might be the best for you to plant, but I don't know if that exists.
Sherry

Hi Frankie;
This summer I talked to Wayne Richards and he said he gets the most luck with Sweetbay magnolia. He and his sister live in KY just south of Cincinnati, OH. Does Sweetbay make it okay in Chicago? Ash is the tiger's number one host in the north. I would have reservations planting it right now though due to emerald ash borer. It has been found all over Ohio. I don't know what your situation is up north. The one thing I will say about it is you can coppice it and it does well. We cut down a large ash in our yard and it keeps coming back with vigor. I have never seen a tiger on it though. We have a tulip tree in our butterfly house here and they use it very well. It is a forced choice for them. Try growing a few of these trees close to each other. I think that is what Wayne does. If you are concerned with size, they can be pollarded or coppiced.
Cheers,
Elisabeth

In their book Life Cycles of Butterflies, Judy Burris says (I believe) mentions that she keeps her Liriondendon tulipifera topped and pruned so that she can collect the TST cats.

Elisabeth, does the EAB attack all ash species or just one? I don't see much ash around OKC so not very familiar with it. Are there resistant varieties? Don't know if the TSTs would accept any Ash species or just certain ones.

The TSTs also use Cottonwood here, which could just be an availability or regional preference.

Susan

I forgot about a plant when I gave my other answers - Ptelea trifoliata/wafer ash/hops tree.
P. trifoliata is supposed to be native to my area, but it must be very rare, as I've never encountered it anywhere, even though I've taken a lot of hikes through the woods. Still, it's documented to have occurred just a few miles north of here.
Anyway, I've planted a lot of it on my property for giant swallowtails. It's in the rutaceae/citrus family, although it looks more like an ash. Tiger swallowtails lay a few eggs on mine every year, and I've raised them successfully on it myself several times. If the local tigers will use it even though most of them have never seen it, then I imagine yours would. I have a friend in northern Ohio, and his has grown and thrived better than mine - he raises giant swallowtails on it from eggs I send him when there are more eggs on my host plants than leaves. My tallest Ptelea trifoliata grew to a whopping 6' tall! For whatever reason, they all die back at or before they reach that height, then come up again from the root, so they're always low growing and bushy. You can order one from a mail-order nursery or plant seeds - I kept some seeds in my closet one winter, then planted them the next spring, and every one germinated, so they're very easy to propagate that way.
Sherry

to bananasinohio yes sweet bay magnolia will make it in chicago. Should i try it out or do you think im to far north for it ? i went driving around today and i did find a tulip poplar about 2 blocks away but thats the only one ive ever seen so im still wondering if i should plant it or not.