RexAnne, I don't grow PawPaw's, but the Chicago Botanical Gardens do..You can call them, anytime before 5pm and they'll answer your questions about growing them. I have contacted them about growing certain plants a few times and they were most helpful..they even sent me literature on grafting trees once..Toni

hmmm. thanks, I'll go look them up right now.

anyone else growing Paw paws?

I am. I have several, with the oldest being 5 years old and about 8' tall. Mine were 1' tall plants that had been grown from seed, gathered from a native stand along the Mississippi River near Dubuque Iowa. They have proven to be exceptionally hardy. I tried some others from Possibility Place and they died back to the ground a couple winters back. They did regrow, but I left them at my old house. This year I planted 8 more that I got from Forrest Keeling Nursery in Missouri.

Kevin
This is great, so tell me :)
were any of them grafted?
Do you know the cultivars?
why did you choose Forrest Keeling nursery?
what did you buy from Possibility?
why did the die back?
how are they doing now? (that is if you ever check on the old place)

what kind of soil do you have?
did you make any sort of protection for them?
got any pictures of them?

I'll stop and let you get a word in edgewise!
RexAnne

I had grown some in Kenosha. They were in the ground 3 years and just getting going when I sold my house. They seemed to be doing well. I purchase them from Jung's garden center. They weren't a named cultivar.

I'm now about 12 miles west of Kenosha and plan on planting some next year. I plan on purchasing a named cultivar this time, although I'm undecided on which cultivar.

Jerger

Oikos tree crops carries paw paws. And they are in MI - so I am assuming the ones they sell will do well in Chicagoland. they are online.

When we visited the historic Naper settlement in downtown Naperville, they had at least one paw paw tree growing there. It looked very harmonious in a midwestern historic setting. If any of the local ghosts haunt the houses, I'm sure they'd feel right at home with them. ;-)

Hey there, looking for some info on paw paw grown in Chicago area, I found this 5-year-old post...

In case anybody still checks in here: I have two paw paw trees and I live in Chicago NW burbs. I've had one Pennsylvania Golden, survived three winters without any problems and this year I planted a second one NC-1. Both I bought online. The one I got this year was from some place in Oregon.

Last weekend (Sept. 26) I was hiking in Warren Dunes State Park in Michigan and I found some paw paw fruits at last. So growing the trees I never really tasted the fruit. I liked it and I am more excited to grow them at my place.

ferrous : I planted 6 last year, all survived the winter. I planted 5 more this year. I have NC-1, Sunflower, Overleese, Shenandoah (2), Susquehanna (2), Rappahannock, Potomac, Wabash and Greenriver Belle.

My Sunflower is about 6 feet tall, almost double in height. I might let it keep its flower and let it fruit. I know several people that grow pawpaw in the Chicagoland area, and they do bear fruit that ripen in time.

Just came back from Pawpaw Fest last week and ate lots of pawpaws....I'm pawpawed out for this year. Yum.