Persimmon, Chinese

The deciduous Chinese Persimmon tree is an attractive, colorful tree that brings considerable variety to your garden or landscape. Native to China where it has been cultivated for centuries, it is stunningly beautiful, with glossy dark green LEAVES, which turn rich red in autumn as dramatic as the maple.

Although not strictly a subtropical, non-astringent persimmons is a small, easy to grow tree which require long (7 months) warm summers to mature fruit followed by a cool sunny spell in autumn to ripen them just before picking. Adequate shelter from strong winds is advisable and although they will grow in a wide range of soils types, they will do best in deep loam type soils, and definitely do not tolerate wet feet. Mature trees range from 10 – 20 ft. and produce large crops in late autumn. As the leaves fall, the ripening persimmon FRUIT turns from rich green to a brilliant, shining golden yellow to deep russet orange. The Chinese so value the tree’s ornamental qualities they will often leave the colorful fruit on the tree to enliven winter landscapes and feed wildlife.

Most varieties are considered self-fertile, although it is safest to plant more than one variety. Fuyu for example require pollination from male cultivars under commercial growing conditions to reduce the risk of fruit drop.