Melinda Myers

Common Persimmon

Botanical Name

Diospyros virginiana

Min Zone

4

Max Zone

9

Height

35 to 50

Width

20 to 35 feet

Flowers

Late spring to early summer: small, urn shaped, creamy white, fragrant

Fruit

Edible after frost, yellowish to pale orange 1 to 1.5 inch berry

Fall Color

Yellow to reddish-purple

Light

Full sun to part shade

Soil

Moist, well drained,

Planting & Care

• Tolerant of a wide range of soil moisture and pH levels
• Drought, pollution and juglone tolerant
• Taproot can make transplanting difficult
• Transplant in early spring
• Most trees are dioecious, meaning each tree produces male or female flowers
• Female trees need a male pollinator in order to set fruit
• Remove root suckers if colonization is not desired

Problems

None serious

Varieties

• Meader - extremely hardy, will fruit without a pollinator, 30 to 40 feet, good fall color, developed at the University of New Hampshire
• John Rick
• Early Golden - large sweet fruit, often self-fertile, early maturing
• Garrettson - high quality, early ripening fruit
• Killen - very productive