I have been growing a Japanese persimmon for about 25 years. It
arrived from a California nursery (probably Monrovia) with ripe fruit
already on it. It has never fruited since. It is about 2.5 m high
(ceiling height) and the leaves are still green. I haven't noticed
when they fall. The plant has never suffered frost damage, though we
have had two or three cold winters in the time it's been growing here.
I assume it never fruits because of lack of summer heat here on the
coast.
The rootstock has grown itself a tree which is more than twice as high
as the Japanese one. It regularly has a big crop of grape-sized fruit.
I just ate a few, and the flesh tastes like a Japanese one, but after
a few minutes the skin leaves an astringent taste. There are tiny
brown seeds, so small they can't be felt when being eaten. The leaves
fell a few weeks ago.
I suppose this is a D. virginiana, but it certainly isn't large fruited
like the one Jerry Lehman grows.
Diane Whitehead Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
maritime zone 8
cool mediterranean climate (dry summer, rainy winter - 68 cm annually)
sandy soil
persimmons.JPG
[NAFEX] persimmons in a cool climate,
Diane Whitehead, 11/14/2004