6 Best Pawpaw Seeds for Native Pollinators

Walk through a shady, moist part of an old homestead in late summer, and you might catch the tropical scent of a ripening pawpaw. But these unique native trees offer more than just delicious, custardy fruit. They are a cornerstone of the local ecosystem, and choosing the right variety can turn your patch into a sanctuary for native pollinators.

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Pawpaws: The Unsung Heroes for Native Pollinators

Most people think of bees and butterflies when they hear the word "pollinator," but the pawpaw tree plays a different game. Its deep maroon, bell-shaped flowers hang upside down and emit a faint, musky scent to attract their primary pollinators: carrion flies and beetles. Planting pawpaws supports a part of the pollinator world that is often overlooked in typical flower gardens.

This relationship is a perfect example of specialized co-evolution. While honeybees might ignore pawpaw blossoms entirely, these other insects are drawn to them, ensuring the fruit gets set. By cultivating these trees, you’re not just growing food for yourself; you’re maintaining a vital link in the food web.

The pawpaw’s biggest claim to fame in the insect world, however, is its role as the sole host plant for the Zebra Swallowtail butterfly (Protographium marcellus). The female butterfly lays her eggs only on pawpaw leaves, and the emerging caterpillars feed exclusively on them. Without a healthy pawpaw population, this stunning native butterfly cannot survive.

‘Shenandoah’ Pawpaw: A Reliable Flower Producer

When your goal is to support pollinators, the sheer number of flowers a tree produces matters immensely. ‘Shenandoah’ is a standout performer in this regard. It’s known for being a reliable and heavy bloomer, year after year.

More blossoms mean more opportunities for those specialized fly and beetle pollinators to do their work. A tree laden with flowers provides a consistent food source early in the season, helping to build and sustain their populations. For the hobby farmer looking for a dependable variety that benefits both the fruit basket and the local insect life, ‘Shenandoah’ is a top-tier choice.

It’s also a Peterson-bred cultivar, selected for excellent flavor and fewer seeds, making it a win-win. You get a tree that’s attractive to pollinators and produces fruit that’s a joy to eat. Just remember, like all pawpaws, it needs a genetically different pawpaw nearby for cross-pollination.

‘Susquehanna’: Vigor for Zebra Swallowtail Larvae

While flowers feed the pollinators, the leaves feed the next generation of Zebra Swallowtails. This is where a cultivar’s vigor comes into play. ‘Susquehanna’ is a famously robust and healthy tree that puts on significant leafy growth.

This abundance of foliage is exactly what you want in a host plant. A single Zebra Swallowtail caterpillar can munch through a surprising number of leaves before it pupates. A vigorous tree like ‘Susquehanna’ can support multiple broods of caterpillars without becoming stressed or defoliated, ensuring a healthy butterfly population.

The tradeoff for this vigor is that ‘Susquehanna’ can sometimes be a bit slower to come into bearing than other varieties. But for the pollinator-focused gardener, that’s a small price to pay. The strong, resilient frame it builds in its early years makes it an exceptional, long-term habitat for swallowtail larvae.

‘NC-1’ Pawpaw: A Hardy, Cold-Tolerant Cultivar

Supporting pollinators isn’t just about planting the right species; it’s about planting a tree that will thrive in your specific location. For those in colder climates, the ‘NC-1’ is an old and trusted cultivar. It’s a hybrid of Canadian and American parentage, giving it exceptional cold hardiness.

A stressed tree is a poor host. A pawpaw struggling through late frosts or harsh winters will produce fewer flowers and less vigorous foliage. By choosing a cold-tolerant variety like ‘NC-1’, you ensure the tree has the resources to be a reliable food source for both pollinators and larvae, even at the northern edge of the pawpaw’s natural range.

This cultivar is a testament to the idea that working with your environment is the most effective strategy. Instead of pushing a less-hardy variety, selecting ‘NC-1’ provides ecological resilience. It’s a practical choice that ensures your pawpaw patch remains a productive part of the local ecosystem for decades.

‘Overleese’: An Old-Timer’s Favorite for Flavor

There’s a reason certain heirloom varieties stick around, and ‘Overleese’ is one of them. While celebrated for its fantastic flavor and creamy, firm texture, its value to pollinators comes from its time-tested resilience. These older, proven cultivars are often tough and adaptable.

‘Overleese’ has a reputation for being a consistently good producer with a strong growth habit. This reliability is key for wildlife. Animals, including insects, depend on predictable resources, and a tree that flowers and leafs out dependably every spring is a valuable asset in the landscape.

Choosing an heirloom like ‘Overleese’ connects your patch to a longer history of cultivation. These trees have proven their worth over generations, not just for their fruit, but for their ability to perform well under real-world conditions without constant coddling. That inherent toughness makes them excellent, low-maintenance host plants.

‘Mango’ Pawpaw: Vigorous Growth for Host Plants

If your primary goal is to establish a Zebra Swallowtail habitat as quickly as possible, ‘Mango’ is a variety to consider. True to its name, it has a hint of mango flavor, but its real asset for pollinators is its exceptionally vigorous, fast growth rate.

A young pawpaw patch can take a few years to really get going. A fast-growing cultivar like ‘Mango’ accelerates this process, producing a large canopy of leaves in a shorter amount of time. This means it can start supporting a healthy population of swallowtail caterpillars sooner than more slow-growing varieties.

This vigor is a significant advantage for anyone starting from scratch. While other trees are slowly establishing their root systems, ‘Mango’ is busy creating the leafy buffet that swallowtail larvae need. For the hobbyist wanting to see an ecological impact quickly, this rapid establishment is a major selling point.

‘Potomac’: Large Blooms to Attract Pollinators

‘Potomac’ is another Peterson variety, known for producing very large, high-quality fruit. And where you find large fruit, you often find large flowers. For the unique pollinators that service pawpaw trees, a larger, more prominent blossom can be a more attractive target.

While pawpaw flowers don’t need to be flashy to attract bees, a larger size might make them more noticeable to the flies and beetles they’re trying to entice. The ‘Potomac’ cultivar, with its robust blooms, offers a substantial landing pad and resource for these underappreciated pollinators.

This choice highlights a simple principle: features bred for human benefit (like large fruit) can sometimes have positive, unintended consequences for wildlife. By selecting ‘Potomac’, you’re planting a tree that not only yields impressive fruit but also presents a more compelling invitation to the insects required for its pollination.

Planting Your Pawpaw Patch for Pollinator Success

Choosing the right cultivars is only half the battle. How you plant and manage your pawpaw patch is just as crucial for creating a thriving pollinator habitat. Success comes down to a few key principles.

First, plant at least two different cultivars for cross-pollination. A lone pawpaw tree, or several trees of the same clone, will produce very little, if any, fruit. Planting a ‘Shenandoah’ next to a ‘Susquehanna’, for example, ensures a good fruit set for you and a genetically diverse stand for the ecosystem.

Second, mimic their natural habitat. Pawpaws are understory trees that thrive in moist, well-drained soil and often grow in clonal patches.

• Plant your trees relatively close together (8-15 feet apart) to create a grove. This helps with cross-pollination and creates a humid microclimate that both the trees and the insects appreciate.
• Provide some shade, especially when the trees are young. Planting them on the east side of a building or near larger trees where they get morning sun and afternoon shade is ideal.
• Mulch heavily with wood chips or leaf litter to retain moisture and build rich soil, just like a forest floor.

Finally, and most importantly, never spray pesticides on or near your pawpaw trees. Remember, the leaves are food for Zebra Swallowtail caterpillars. Using any insecticide, even organic ones, can wipe out the very population you are trying to support. A few chewed leaves are a small price to pay for the beauty of a garden full of native butterflies.

By selecting robust, well-suited pawpaw cultivars and planting them with intention, you do more than just grow a unique fruit. You actively participate in the local food web, providing essential resources for a cast of native pollinators and ensuring the survival of the magnificent Zebra Swallowtail butterfly.