I don't live anywhere near you so I can't tell you about fruit or trees in your area - I'm sure there's got to be someone in Charlotte growing these trees.

I have tasted wild pawpaw's that tasted like a bar of soap so be careful if the families impression will guide whether or not you grow this plant. They do not all taste good. The ones that do taste good are very good but most of them are just so-so and a few of them are awful.

I have seen them growing in the wild in the woods around Lake Joccassee over in the far corner or upstate SC. You'd have to take a boat across the lake to the areas around all the waterfalls and just hike around until you found some. The trees get very tall over there and the fruit can be way up. They'll be about the size of a large chicken egg and apple green.

The biggest problem with growing pawpaws is that every animal on the planet likes to eat them, you really have to protect the trees in order to get a fully ripe fruit. Squirrels are the worst because they will even eat them unripe and most often they just take a few bites out of one fruit and then move on to the next one. The best tasting fruit needs to ripen on the tree.

The best local pawpaw trees for sale that I have found are at Niche Gardens in Chapel Hill. They are cheaper and out perform all the other named cultivars I purchased from outside of this state - like by three times (grew three times faster, look three times healthier).

Stemy, pawpaw are weird in that once the first tree is maturing it then forms root sprouts, some will be 12-20 feet from the main tree. Are you willing to give up that much room ? Those here that do best have good access to water while growing best as an understory tree. We have whole groves of them between the yard and the creek. The squirrels and raccoons and opossums get every fruit they make. I often wondered why there are so many trees but no mature fruit make it to the ground until I realized the roots sprouted the new trees.

I live in charlotte myself. Reedy creek park has PawPaws ripening now. Take the Robinson Rockhouse trail. I planted seeds 2 years ago and most have come up. They do seem to grow extremely slow in our clay soils. Christies nursery in concord has the plants. They are about 5-6 feet tall and are expensive.