Added one in spring 2011.
Added another in summer 2012.
(by the way, for a lovely thought about a persimmon tree, visit this post - The Permisson Tree - at Whole Life Gardening. A wonderful idea . . )
I bought two little whips at Bernheim Arboretum and brought them home on the plane in my carry on luggage. I put them on the lower part of the back hill.
2009 - Lost the one on the right. The other on the left side of the back hill is growing. 2011 - added one more from Broken Arrow and planted it in the center of the back hill where one of the original black gums had been lost.
Persimmons are very late to leaf out, one of the last in spring, and I keep thinking the remaining one hasn't made it, but it does come in eventually.
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| fall 2010, first time it's tall enough to be visible in the weeds |
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| June 27, 2011 |
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| October 11, 2012. Finally getting to be a noticeable size |
In 2012 I planted a little one from Broken Arrow out by the road cut, but it did not do well in the tall weeds. I transplanted it in 2013 to the central part of the meadow and it is doing a little better but is still tiny.
The tree from Broken Arrow that I planted in 2011 is also growing well, about my height now, but it is very whippy and flexible, and the leaves are very large, almost tropical looking compared to the other persimmon. They are glossy and dark green, but oddly big and droopy. This is clearly a very different cultivar of American persimmon, but I can't find out what it is.
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| 9/14/13 |
The original tree (remaining one of two from Bernheim Arboretum) is growing tall. In 2013 it was noticeable and fall color was again outstanding. In late summer the top branches were defoliated, but it was hard to tell what did that.
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| 8/25/13 Top branches lost leaves |
In fall that tree catches early morning sun and just lights up. Fall color continues to be a reliable orange yellow and very bright.
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| 10/12/13 It glows in the center distance |
In 2014 the two largest of the persimmons had lots of flowers in mid June, but Diospyros needs male and female plants to fruit. Both of mine are male trees -- the flowers are clustered, while a female persimmon has flowers that are single.
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| 6/15/14 -- male flowers are in clusters |
I have never had a persimmon fruit to eat. In 2014 I bought one at a farmer's market, and it was beautiful and such a pretty color. It was actually tasteless and a little mushy. It was one of the great big orange Asian varieties, not the smaller American persimmon.
My persimmon trees are looking like real trees now. The one to the left of the back hill is getting tall, and the branch dieback at the tips from 2013 did not seem to be a problem this year.
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| 6/23/14 |
The persimmon in the middle of the back hill looks so different with very glossy large leaves. In the very dry summer of 2014 it got really droopy. Unlike the other persimmon, it did not color in fall.
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| 9/14/14 |
The original tree on the left side does color, and quite spectacularly each year. It is so noticeable from afar, even as a small tree.
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| 10/17/14 |
The littlest one that was transplanted out in the middle of the meadow is still small, not flowering yet -- wonder if it is a female?
In late May 2105, there in the back behind an oak sapling, the leafy persimmon is lit up. It's growing well.
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| 5/28/15 |
And fall color was butterscotch yellow.
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| 10/16/15 |
The bigger-leaved persimmon at the foot of the back hill didn't seem to show much fall color. It's such a different looking tree than the one on the left. The little one in the middle of the meadow was still barely taller than the weeds in 2015.
Propagation:
Softwood cuttings in Spring, plant in Fall, or Semi-ripe cuttings in summer, overwinter in coldframe.
