Persimmon
Diospyros virginiana
Sweet, custardy orange fruit hangs on bare branches into December, feeding deer, foxes, and fruit-eating birds. Blocky bark is a winter feature.
Typically 1 quart–3 gal · $17–$85 · final price at pickup
- Thu, Aug 138 AM – 4 PM
- Fri, Aug 148 AM – 4 PM
- Sat, Aug 158 AM – 2 PM
Orange persimmons hanging on bare branches in November, deer coming to the tree at dusk, cedar waxwings working the canopy. no fruit tree delivers more wildlife drama in fall.
Native persimmon is the fruit tree that belongs in every wildlife-oriented landscape in the East. Orange-yellow fruits ripen after the first hard frost, hanging on bare branches into December. Deer, foxes, opossums, raccoons, and every fruit-eating bird on the continent finds this tree in fall. Pluck a ripe persimmon and taste it: sweet, custardy, with hints of honey and brown sugar. Nothing bitter about a fully ripened fruit. The bark develops a distinctive blocky, alligator-hide texture with age, beautiful in winter. Tiny white flowers are visited by native bees in spring. Plant male and female trees for reliable fruit production. Persimmon is a slow-growing, long-lived tree that rewards the patience it asks for with decades of fall abundance.
A nursery-grown plant, ready for the ground.
Healthy, container-grown persimmon propagated on-site at Hill House from regional genetics. Includes a one-page care card. We make every effort to supply plants as listed; occasionally we substitute a similar species of equal value.
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Average
- Mature size
- 30–50 ft · 20–30 ft wide
- Bloom time
- Spring
- USDA zones
- 4–9
- Family
- Ebenaceae
- Native range
- Eastern United States
Care notes for persimmon.
Full sun to part shade, adapts to dry to average soils. Drought tolerant once established. Deep taproot. difficult to transplant; plant young and in its permanent location. Plant both male and female for fruit set. No fertilizing needed. Remove suckers from the base if a single-trunk form is desired.
Pairs well with these.
Same light, same soil, same wildlife. Janet's picks to plant alongside persimmon.
Or skip the guesswork.
Curated packages bundle complementary species for an instant habitat. One reservation, one pickup day, a printed layout map.
Short on Space Package
For gardeners who have an abundance of passion but are short on space, this package features tidy, upright, clump-forming natives that behave and function well in small spaces.
Shade Bed Package
Ferns, sedges, and woodland natives that thrive under existing trees.
Birder’s Paradise Package
For the avid bird watchers and budding ornithologists in our community, the Birder’s Paradise Package consists of species that Hill House Nursery staff and longtime native plant advocates such as Doug Tallamy consider ‘premier bird garden plants’.