The following is the continuation of yesterday’s interview with Terri Pietroburgo on Florida native pawpaw trees:
Asimina obovota/pygmaea cross
TERRI: They are not self-pollinating so you need two plants to have fruit. It is not that they have only male or female flowers – God made them perfect in that they have both male and female parts of the flower. But, just like middle school, the female part has matured and moved on before the male part has matured. They do cross pollinate easily between species, resulting in some really pretty flowers.
Asimina parviflora bloom
DAVID: Do we need to hang rotting chicken necks around the trees to get fruit? My wife really doesn’t like that idea!
attract the pollinators. This is not at all necessary for the homeowner to do. I get plenty of fruit off the ones in my yard and not a dead chicken in sight. If you plant it the pollinators will come.
A beetle pollinating a pawpaw flower
DAVID: Excellent. There’s one less objection… but aren’t PawPaws a pain in the neck to grow? Why should we bother?
plants. There are so many reasons to plant a pawpaw in your yard. They are the only plant the caterpillars of the beautiful zebra swallowtail butterfly will eat. They have very beautiful flowers and are very hardy
after they are established. The edible fruit feeds us and the wildlife. They are drought tolerant, cold tolerant and very long lived.
Asimina obovata growing in the shade
DAVID: That makes sense. Now, being a total plant nerd, I really want to grow some. Where should I plant them and what do I need to do to
keep them alive?
Asimina obovata (Bigflower Pawpaw) fruit
The eighth species, which is the Asimina parviflora or “Smallflower Pawpaw,” is an tall understory shrub to small tree. It likes the shade and its growth habit is effected by how heavy the shade it gets. In dappled shade it will be a shrub and in heavy shade it’s more of a small tree. It fruits fine in the shade. It also likes moist, fertile but well-drained soil.
person in the state raising our native PawPaws for sale. Where can we find your price list and ordering info if we want to pick up a native Florida pawpaw or three?
species. I do ship and sell retail and wholesale.
Terri Pietroburgo
Pietro’s Pawpaws
33930 Washington Ave
Leesburg, Fl 34788
352-504-6494
352-742-1098
DAVID: Very cool. Thanks a bunch for answering my questions. See you at the Master Gardener Spring Sale!
Asimina angustifolia (the Slimleaf Pawpaw) in the wild
You can have greener thumbs by this weekend!
32 comments
sweet, i'll check her out when she comes to tampa, no doubt for the USF Botanical Gardens sale. and i'll let her know there is at least one other plant the zebra butterfly enjoys – my invasive passionflowers!
good article!
Actually… she's talking about the Zebra Swallowtail, not the Zebra Longwing.
Check this out:
http://www.animalspot.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Zebra-Swallowtail-Butterfly.jpg
so… i was talking with the extension agent… and long story short we both agree $15 for the trees is a lot when the fruit is sub-par. loquats are an all-around better choice. he was also telling me there was some new-ish bugs eating the persimmons around here. dont remember if he dropped the name. something to look out for.
You're not just talking fruit trees, though – you're talking about rare natives. People pay more than that for their silverthorn bushes.
In MD, we’ve paid a lot more for pawpaws. I paid as much as $37 for cultivars, and I shopped around. I think $15 is very reasonable…unless the shipping is outrageous. Check out Stark Bros.
I agree that we are not making a like comparison when we compare a native paw paw to a loquat. I planted it because it is a native and because of the Swallowtail. I also paid $20 at the Ocala show 2 years ago….her prices have come down 25%….a bargain!
Yes. And you know what? With some breeding, it may be possible to find and improve native pawpaw varieties. I don't believe any work at all has been done in that regard.
There are other varieties that are native that are more edible than say the slimleaf
Yes. Some are almost inedible… A. pygmaea, for instance, tastes to me like rotten avocado.
I understd you need at least two plants to pollinate, but do you need different species to cross pollinate? I plan on planting six pawpaws of the same species, unless you tell me otherwise!
The same species is fine.
Anyone know if Pietro's Pawpaws is still in business? I'm looking to get ahold of some and have had trouble getting a response. Thanks!
I believe she's on hiatus at the moment – still growing some, though, because a friend of mine at the Kanapaha show was selling some of her pawpaws there.
In my nursery I currently have some A. parviflora growing and a few A. Trilobas that should be ready in a month or two.
What’s the most good-tasting species after A. triloba?
Probably A. parviflora.
when is the best time and what is the best kind to plant in Lake City FL?
I’m not sure – get in touch with Terri.
Hi David, I am interested in purchasing pawpaw seed, do you sell them?
No – try ebay.
Hi David, I was wondering if you ever got a response from Terri to see if she is still in business. I have emailed left messages on both lines and have not got any response. Ebay has no other paw paw except the common northern pawpaw and I would like to get some natives. If you or any of the people on here know of another place I would like the number for them. Thank you.
No – I haven’t seen her in a long time.
Sweetbay Nusery in Parrish has paw paw’s. I just bought a smallflower pawpaw from them: https://sweetbaynursery.com/
Very good! Thank you for the link.
Also, according to Plant Real Florida, Mail Order Natives (careful, not everything there is a Florida native) and National Treasures Farm & Nursery in Trenton have the the smallflowered pawpaw. Here is the link, you can search for other varieties of pawpaw once there: https://www.plantrealflorida.org/plants/detail/asimina-parviflora
I’m still waiting for my “Northern” Paw Paws to come up from seed. I ordered a packet from Baker Creek but it’s been several months now and nothing. I’ve read that it can take longer but I’m still worried. I did, however, reach out to KSU for some free seeds as a backup plan. Thinking it would be cool to get my hands on some of these species, though. I have plenty of room on my property.
It does take some time. They need cold, then warmth. Mine took about 4 months.
Those seeds were a bust, one rotted and the other six never germinated. I don’t think they were stratified even though the literature said they were. My backup seeds from KSU came in this week and I’m sure they properly stratified them; they’re pretty serious about Paw Paws. I’m going to put the ten seeds they sent in five gallon buckets, which should hopefully be deep enough to get them to the point of hardening off and transplanting.
Hello William do you mind sharing your KSU source for the seeds? I would love to try other Asimina species but its hard to get some seeds. Thanks!
Also anyone here know if Pietro’s Pawpaws is still in business? I’m looking to get ahold of some and have had trouble getting a response. Or any other sources for seeds of other Asimina species?
I haven’t been able to reach her. I think she’s quit the nursery business. No one else is doing this, that I know of.
TradeWindsFruit.com sells fresh pawpaw seed. Frequently you have to request to be notified when the seed is available.
I bought Asimina parviflora seed from them one year ago, kept in the refrigerator for a long time, planted indoors under light in a plastic box to retain moisture and out of 4 seeds, one germinated.
Three days ago I potted that sturdy 6mm tall seedling in a tiny pot and placed in a protected area outside. It was there yesterday, but the seedling appears to be gone today.
Oh dear – I hate it when that happens.
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