I live in Gaston County NC and am raising zebras for the first time ever!!!!!! I have 2 pupae and 1 first instar larva. I have a hard time I.D. ing the trees but have a friend that has found several patches of paw paws. I do not know of a nursery that sells them. You can order them on ebay. You may be able to order larger trees from an orchard (pawpaw orchards are grown in Ohio??)

My friend and I have had success transplanting them. The Charlotte Nature museum has a featured PawPaw patch but I have never been.

The only time I have seen Zebras in my garden is when I have had paw paws in pots. Surely you have them in your area if you are seeing the butts in your garden.

I am curious as to what area you are in?

Post your pics!!

So excited for you!!!

Samantha

Wow, congrats on seeing Zebra Swallowtails! I would love to see some around here. I have to get some paw paw trees first. I had tried getting some online but they arrived without roots and didn't live. It didn't do any good to email him because he never answered me back. I know what you mean about not being able to find any paw paw trees at a local nursery. I've looked around here and there are none to be found. I'm getting the idea that the trees are scarce, so it's no wonder that I've never seen a ZST here. I hope you can find some trees somehow. I might buy seeds and try starting them that way. At least this way if they wouldn't sprout, I wouldn't be out much money. The downside is that you have to wait longer to get growth for any ZST's.
Cathy

Samantha - I live in the northeastern corner of NC and there must be pawpaw somewhere if a ZST was around. Anyway, I visited a website yesterday that I found from someone on this forum and I ordered a pawpaw tree in a gallon container. It was $20 so I only ordered 1. If it survives, I will order another. You said that you have your pawpaw in a container? I think that I will try that as well so I can "baby" it better. This is my first real attempt at butterfly gardening and I'm getting a better idea of plant arrangement for my garden and I'm making notes for next year and hopefully by next year, the pawpaw will be able to host a few cats.

Cathy - when I asked local nurseries about pawpaw, they looked at me like I was crazy. I did get one nursery to plant milkweed and get some Joe Pye weed so I am making progress with the locals. I think that ZST's are the prettiest of the swallowtails.

Kathy

Kathy,
Now I remember that I've asked you where you are before. Sorry for being redundant.

I have read that the pawpaw needs shade for the first two years, but like full sun later. The paw paws I have had in the past died due to my serious neglect.

Pawpaws spread by the root. So they tend to grow in "patches" and would look weedy to most people.

I hope you see many more Zebras!!!

Kathy, I know what you mean about getting that "Are you crazy?" look from the people at the nurseries. Some acted like they never heard of it before! One lady who worked at the one nursery though knew that the ZST eats paw paws, but she said they don't sell them and she doesn't know of anyone who does. I'm amazed that a tree that has good tasting fruit (according to websites that I've read) isn't grown more! I've never seen anyone growing it around here. That's good that you got a nursery to plant some plants for the butterflies. Yes, I also think that the Zebra Swallowtail is the prettiest swallowtail judging by the pictures I've seen of it.
Cathy

I ordered three Pawpaws from Oikos Tree Crops last year. They are all doing well. The one that gets the least amount of sun is doing the best.

Don't know why Oikos has not made the "Nurseries Recommended" list in the FAQ. I found out about them from this forum. Only complaint I had with them was they didn't tell me that the trees wouldn't ship until fall. I had to ask when I had received nothing after a few weeks.

On top of the pawpaws, I also got 8 chokecherry, 2 shagbark hickory and 1 paper birch. Everything is growing fine.

OTOH, I bought 3 wild black cherry and 4 staghorn sumac from two different Ebay sellers this year. Out of the 7, only one sumac is still showing signs of life. I'll have to try again in the fall.

KC

I had a zebra st visit my garden today. Pretty exciting as It's only the second one I've ever seen in my life. It was nectaring on common milkweed. There are some paw paw trees in the vacant lot next to me - I'm going to have to check for eggs.

Be careful what you wish for. I bought a tree from a native plant nursery 4 years ago with no results till now. About the first of June a ZS came visiting and laying eggs. I was on top of the world at first. It seems that she came visiting every day after that laying about a dozen eggs each time. Now my tree looks like it was hit by a tornato,hardly a leaf left on it. I've been running around the countryside looking for more leaves. I hate to abandon a single egg, but I wish she would spread the wealth around. By some coincidence a pawpaw sphinx found the same tree. I find wild trees in woods along small streams. I called 2 wholesale distributers and they said that they only sell them in the spring or fall. They don't do well if planted in the summer. I also found out that the University of Kentucky does a lot of research on them and you might be able to get some from them or from the places they supply. As for the person from Ohio, I rate sumac along with poison ivey and Japonese honeysuckle and mosquitoes. If it gets loose, it will blanket the neighborhood.

I'd like to discuss staghorn sumac but don't want to hijack this thread, so I'll start another.