We grow more than forty varieties of Persimmons. Some are American natives selected off wild trees. A good many are Ukrainian and Crimean hybrids you will not find at another nursery in this country. Every tree is grafted, root-pruned, and shipped free east of the Rockies.
Let me walk you through it so you order the right one the first time.
Start Here: Which Kind Do You Want?
| If you want | Plant this | Jump to |
|---|---|---|
| A tough native that takes care of itself | American persimmon | American varieties |
| Bigger fruit on a tree that survives a real winter | Ukrainian or Crimean hybrid | Hybrid varieties |
| Feed on the ground for deer | Wildlife selections | Wildlife varieties |
| To make sure you actually get fruit | Read the pollination section | Pollination |
American Persimmons {#american}
This is the native. Diospyros virginiana. It grows wild from Connecticut down to Florida and out to Kansas, and it is tough as a boot. Handles poor ground, does not need spraying, and once it is established you can mostly forget about it.
The fruit runs smaller than what you see in a grocery store, about the size of a golf ball, but the flavor is deeper. Richer. If you have only had store persimmons you are in for a surprise.
Plant an American if you are north of Zone 6, you want a tree that takes care of itself, or you are planting for wildlife.
The classics
- Early Golden (2 gallon). The old standard, and the parent of a great many of the others on this page.
- Szukis (2 gallon). A reliable, productive selection with a long history.
- Prok (1 gallon). Large fruit for an American, and one of the most asked-about varieties we carry.
- Dollywood (2 gallon).
- Yates-Juhl (1 gallon).
- Florence (2 gallon).
Lehman selections
Jerry Lehman spent a lifetime breeding persimmons in Indiana, and a good part of what is worth planting in this country traces back to his work.
- Lehman’s Delight (2 gallon)
- Leheman 7.2 (2 gallon)
- Barbara’s Blush (1 or 2 gallon)
- H-120 Claypool (2 gallon)
Large-fruited and numbered selections
- L-93-A Jumbo (2 gallon)
- Golden Supreme (2 gallon)
- Excellent Virginiana (1 gallon)
- 400-5 (1 gallon)
- 450-7 (2 gallon)
- Bypass C-2 (1 gallon)
Currently on the waitlist
Ukrainian and Crimean Hybrids {#hybrid}
This is where it gets interesting, and this is the part I am proudest of.
These crosses came out of breeding programs at Nikita Botanical Gardens in Crimea and out of Ukraine, where growers spent decades chasing the same thing every northern persimmon grower wants: fruit closer to the big Asian kind, on a tree hardy enough to survive a real winter.
They got there. The fruit runs larger than an American persimmon, the flavor is more complex, and the trees handle cold that would kill a kaki. Almost nobody in the United States carries this collection.
Plant a hybrid if you are in Zone 5 or 6 and you want bigger fruit than an American will give you. For most of the country this is the sweet spot.
Available now
- Nikita #4 (1 or 2 gallon). The best known of the Nikita Botanical Gardens releases.
- Kasandra (1 or 2 gallon). Also listed in our Trees for Bees collection.
- Zirochka (2 gallon)
- Sovanovskaja (2 gallon)
- Kujenaja (2 gallon)
- Lena Michelena (2 gallon)
- Nitra (1 or 2 gallon)
- Meizye (1 or 2 gallon)
- Early Santa (1 gallon)
- Doctor Kazas (1 gallon)
- 1410 UKR (1 gallon)
- Paradise (2 gallon)
Currently on the waitlist
Persimmons for Deer and Wildlife {#wildlife}
If you are planting a food plot rather than an orchard, persimmons are hard to beat. Deer will camp under a persimmon tree, and a mature one drops fruit for weeks when there is not much else on the ground.
What matters for wildlife is drop timing. You want fruit falling across as long a window as you can manage, which means planting more than one variety rather than a row of the same thing.
- Deer Magnet (1 gallon)
- Deer Kandy (1 or 2 gallon)
- Buck Bait (1 gallon)
- L-93-A Jumbo (2 gallon)
- H-120 Claypool (2 gallon)
- Golden Supreme (2 gallon)
- Meizye (1 or 2 gallon)
- F-100, currently on the waitlist
For a plot that feeds year round, put persimmons alongside sunchokes for summer browse and a Millwood honeylocustfor high-sugar pods in late winter. Our permanent food plots page walks through how we put a plot together.
The Pollination Question {#pollination}
Read this part. It is where most people get it wrong, and it costs them years.
Persimmons are what is called dioecious. Trees are male or female, like holly. The female tree makes the fruit. The male tree makes the pollen. One without the other and you are growing a shade tree.
Here is the part that saves you money: some varieties will set fruit with no pollen at all. It is called parthenocarpy, and the fruit comes out seedless, which most people prefer anyway.
For everything else you will want a male within range of your females. We carry 504 Male for exactly that purpose. One male will cover a good many females, so you do not need one for every tree.
If you are not sure what you need, get in touch before you order. I would rather spend five minutes on the phone than have you wait six years for fruit that is not coming.
What Zone Are You In?
| Your zone | What I would plant |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 to 5 | American persimmon. Hardiest thing going. |
| Zone 5 to 6 | Ukrainian or Crimean hybrid. Best fruit you can get and still make it through winter. |
| Zone 7 and warmer | Either one. The hybrids will give you larger fruit. |
Tell us where you are and we will tell you what will live there.
How We Grow Them
Every tree that leaves this farm is grafted and root-pruned in a container.
Here is why that matters. A tree grown in a regular pot goes around and around, and those circling roots stay circling after you plant it. Years later that tree strangles itself and you never know why it died.
We prune the roots as they grow so the tree builds a fibrous root system instead of a few long wrapped-up ones. When you put it in the ground it goes straight to work. No transplant shock to speak of, and no time bomb underneath it.
Bare root is cheaper to ship. I know that. But I would rather sell you a tree that lives.
Trees ship in 1 gallon and 2 gallon sizes depending on the variety. The 2 gallon will put you a season ahead.
When to Plant
Fall is the best time to put a persimmon in the ground, and it is not close.
The ground is still warm, the tree is going dormant so it is not trying to push leaves, and it spends all winter growing roots while you are inside. Come spring it is already established and ready to run. Plant that same tree in April and it spends its first summer just trying to catch up.
Planting a fall bed? Sunchokes go in the same season and you will be digging them next fall.
Browse All Persimmon Trees
Questions Folks Ask Us
Do I need two persimmon trees to get fruit?
Sometimes. Persimmon trees are male or female, and only the female makes fruit. Several varieties will set seedless fruit on their own with no male nearby. For the rest, one 504 Male will pollinate a good many females. Ask us before you order if you are not sure.
What is the difference between an American and a Ukrainian persimmon?
American persimmons are our native tree. Smaller fruit, extremely hardy, very low maintenance. The Ukrainian and Crimean varieties are hybrids bred for larger fruit while keeping cold hardiness. If you want the biggest fruit that will still survive a Zone 5 winter, look at the hybrids.
Why is my persimmon so bitter?
It is not ripe. Astringent varieties have to go completely soft, almost like jelly, before the astringency breaks down. Wait until it feels like a water balloon.
Do persimmons need frost before they are ripe?
That is an old wives’ tale that will not die. Frost does not ripen a persimmon. It just happens that most varieties ripen around the same time the first frost shows up, so folks put the two together. Judge by feel, not by weather.
Will deer eat my persimmons?
Every last one of them, and they will fight over them. If you are planting for wildlife that is the point. If you are planting for yourself, cage the trunk while it is young.