Green pawpaw fruit hanging on the branch

Montana Trial Pawpaw (Bundle of 2) | Spring 2027

$79.99

Reliable shipping

Flexible returns

Pollination Needs a partner

Bloom group 4 of 7 (Mid)

Pawpaw pollination chart

Ripening

Will it finish before your first hard freeze?

Check it on the Ripening Map (opens in a new tab)

Disease resistanceNo strong resistance

Leaf spot : Moderate, 3 of 5

Scored 1 to 5. Higher resists better, and ? means no published data yet.

See it on our unusual fruit disease chart (opens in a new tab)

At a glance: Montana Trial Pawpaw is a pawpaw tree rated hardy to zone 4 in our ratings (winters to -30°F), and self-incompatible, so plant two genetically different plants.

Also called	Pawpaw, paw paw, Indiana banana (Asimina triloba)
Hardy to	Zone 4 to 9. A bare number means the whole of zone 4, colder half included (winters to -30°F). Find your zone with our cold hardiness calculator.
Chill hours	About 400 hours (300 to 800). Seedlings vary, so this is based on the parent tree. Montana winters give it plenty. In milder climates, make sure your winters average at least this much. Check your chill hours or see our sources.
Pollination	Self-Incompatible - Plant Two Genotypes. Bloom group 4 of 7 (mid), late spring here. Plant both seedlings together, since a pawpaw needs pollen from a genetically different tree. Flies and beetles do the work poorly, so hand-pollinating with a small brush helps. Bloom group is our estimate from the variety's origin and relatives. Pollination Charts.
Good for	Feeding wildlife (7/10), fresh eating (6/10), canning and freezing (6/10), ornamental value (6/10). Scores are our own 1 to 10 ratings; 8 and up makes our Best Of lists.
Deer	Rarely bothered by deer.
What you get	Bare root, 2-4 ft. Shipped or picked up in Missoula in spring, roots wrapped in moist sawdust. Guaranteed to bud out.

A Hardy Michigan Seed Source

These pawpaws come from a hardy seed source selected out of Michigan. The parentage is wild seedlings, selected mainly for precocity, and these come from the best performing and most prolific bearing trees of the bunch.

Flavor

We have yet to try the fruit ourselves, but the folks who harvested the seed say they are very tasty. Are they as good as some of the named varieties? Perhaps not. But because these are some of the most northern grown pawpaws out there, we think these seedlings will be decently hardy.

Cold Hardiness

They should be hardy down to at least -30°F. They came through our -26°F on 1/12/2024 without any winter injury.

Whether these will survive beyond -30°F is anyone's guess. They perhaps could in a protected spot with good air drainage, but even so, perhaps not much colder than that.

Why We Call It a Trial

We are still trialing these, so we will update this with more information as time goes on. Could be worth a trial, hence the name.

Image is a USDA public domain image (not from our trees because they have yet to fruit). Our trees are still young and have been mainly tested for winter hardiness.

Questions we get about Montana Trial Pawpaw

How cold hardy is Montana Trial Pawpaw?

We rate Montana Trial Pawpaw hardy to zone 4, which means winters down to about -30°F. Our ratings come from real winters at our two Montana sites and from trusted growers across the North, not from a catalog average.

How many chill hours does Montana Trial Pawpaw need?

About 400 hours of winter chill (we count hours at or below 45°F), likely somewhere between 300 and 800. Seedlings vary, so that's based on the parent, Michigan-source Asimina triloba. Pawpaw needs roughly 400 chill hours, which Montana always delivers. Summer heat and season length are the real limits here. Our chill hours guide has a calculator for your winters, and our research page lists the sources.

What is Montana Trial Pawpaw good for?

Our top use scores for Montana Trial Pawpaw are feeding wildlife (7/10), fresh eating (6/10), canning and freezing (6/10), ornamental value (6/10).

Is Montana Trial Pawpaw disease resistant?

Somewhat. It holds up moderately well against leaf spot. Our unusual fruit disease resistance chart has every rating, the notes and the sources.

Will deer eat Montana Trial Pawpaw?

Rarely. Deer seldom bother Montana Trial Pawpaw, though a hungry winter deer will try almost anything.

What arrives, and when does Montana Trial Pawpaw ship?

A dormant bare-root plant, roots wrapped in moist sawdust with a vapor barrier, shipped or picked up in Missoula in spring. Sizes offered: 2-4 ft. We guarantee our plants bud out. Stone fruits can be slow, so if one still has not budded out by August 15, write to us and we credit you for the following spring.