We do not have a variety of pawpaw in Ohio but we love what we have.

Here is a link that might be useful: The 13th Annual Ohio Pawpaw Festival

A Pawpaw Festival, that sounds fun, I'd love to try some of those foods...pawpaw cheesecake and pawpaw pizza!!! and here pawpaw the music.

Well, I could hear the music here if i could somehow here the music. I've actually heard a song mentioning pawpaws before, and heard people mentioning the song as well. It is funny most people don't know what a pawpaw is at first, but many older people will know what it is if you continue to describe it.

"Pickin' up Pawpaws, put-um in the basket", yes, don't remember the first time I heard the song, "Way down yonder in the Pawpaw patch". I am fortunate to have a self-pollinating Pawpaw tree from a local stand that was discovered several years ago. It bloomed and produced fruit for the first time last year. There is now a sucker coming up under the tree. But, sadly, the Zebra Swallowtails have not discovered my tree yet. I don't know what pollinates the flowers--they bloom rather early.

Sandy

I have been to the paw paw festival. Well worth a visit. We tried paw paw ice cream and pizza. The best part is KSU's Kirk Pompier comes and gives great talks and lets us sample some of KSUs many paw paw varieties. WAY different than wild paw paws and extremely yummy! However, I am not sure I would recommend camping there as we did. All that paw paw frolicing led to 1 AM campfire singing....My husband rolled over in his sleeping bag and made the observation "never camp with hippies". This from a man who grew up in Yellow Springs, OH. Only the most hippie town in Ohio, :).
Cheers,
Elisabeth

The major point that needs to be made, I think, is that there are different paw paws for different parts of the country. There are, I believe, four or five that grow well where I live, in Central Florida. The triloba has grown quite well in my yard, but has attracted no zebra swallowtails. It is more for the northern parts of Florida and other states. I don't believe the Zebras recognize it here.

The ones most productive in my area are the obovata and the pygmaea. They grow in a nearby park and have lots of Zebra Swallowtails that use them. I have planted some in my yard, but so far no luck. I have been growing them for over five years.

I'm not giving up, though. They are difficult to grow. They have very long tap roots and really cannot be dug up. They also grow very slowly... A big challege, but I'm going to stick with it.

Anyone else having more luck?

The major point that needs to be made, I think, is that there are different paw paws for different parts of the country. There are I believe four or five that grow well where I live, in Central Florida. The triloba has grown quite well in my yard, but has attracted no zebra swallowtails. It is more for the northern parts of Florida and other states. I don't believe the Zebras recognize it here.

The ones most productive in my area are the obovata and the pygmea

Sandy, I have an A. triloba in my garden (several others, too) that I've had for a good many years. It blooms early in the spring each year and started making fruit last year. The critters must have gotten them last year, but I got them this year. I've got the big seeds in damp potting soil in a plastic bag in my fridge, and I'll take them out in a couple of months and plant them in containers. If they germinate, I'll know that mine is a self-pollinating individual also.
I've only gotten zebra eggs once, and that turned out to be a disaster, as many of you remember. Only two of the many eggs made it to adulthood. I'd love to get another opportunity to raise them, though!
I love the Florida pawpaws, especially the big flowering one, A. obovata, I think - very pretty. I don't think it'd thrive here, though.
Sherry

I have tons of dwarf pawpaw growing naturally on my property and that is one of the main reasons, extreme diversity and abundance of Lepidoptera host plants, that I selected it. I have planted two Asimina triloba, one is still alive, barely active, and I think the other is dead or at least dormant. I have another A. triloba in a 35 gallon container that I had to move deep into the shade to keep alive. My main source of water is rain water, and after that it has to be hauled in. I have two 1100 gallon tanks for rainwater collection. A. parviflora is much better in arid and drought conditions. They all look healthy as a horse, especially the ones in full sun, despite the drought conditions.

I've seen a fair amount of Zebra Swallowtail cats on the A. parviflora, and I believe, I saw one once, on the A. triloba. I'm not sure, but I do think one day there was an early instar cat on the triloba, but it wasn't there the times I went back to look for it.