American Persimmon Tree

Pick Sweet, Golf Ball Sized Fruit Every Fall With the American Persimmon Tree

The American Persimmon Tree is a self-pollianting, native fruit tree favorite

• Sweet, golf ball-sized orange persimmons ripen to soft, rich flesh in fall — excellent for fresh eating, baking, jams, and drying
• Self-fertile and productive without a pollinating partner; a single tree bears fruit reliably year after year.
• Grows 30 to 50 ft. tall with a 20 to 25 ft. spread making it perfect for shade
• Moderately salt tolerant and adaptable to most well-drained soils.
• Hardy in USDA Zones 5–9, these persimmon trees require roughly between 100-400 chill hours

There's something deeply satisfying about a tree that feeds you, feeds the wildlife around you, and looks beautiful doing both. The American Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) is exactly that kind of plant. Native to North America and deeply at home across a wide range of growing conditions, it produces sweet, bright orange fruit each fall that's genuinely delicious when fully ripe; soft, rich, and worth every bit of the wait. The foliage transitions from deep green through summer to warm oranges and yellows as temperatures drop in fall, and once the leaves are down, attractive gray-brown bark carries the tree's visual interest through winter. This is a long-lived, largely self-sufficient native tree that gets better and more productive with every passing year.

The American Persimmon tree does not ship bare root. It is rooted in its nursery container in soil.

Why You'll Love the American Persimmon Tree

Self-Fertile and Genuinely Easy. One tree is all you need for a full fruit crop — American Persimmon is self-fertile and bears reliably without a second tree nearby. Paired with its moderate growth rate of up to a foot per year, adaptability to most well-drained soil types, drought tolerance once established, and a clean bill of health on pests and disease.

Native, Adaptable, and Built to Last. As a native North American species, the American Persimmon is naturally suited to the conditions, wildlife, and seasonal rhythms of the landscapes it grows in.

Sweet Fall Fruit: American Persimmon fruit ripens in fall to a soft, intensely sweet flesh that's a tasty surprise to anyone who's never tasted a fully ripe one. The fruit is smaller than Asian persimmon varieties, roughly the size of a golf-ball. Eat them fresh off the tree, bake them into breads and puddings, cook them down into jams and jellies, or dry them for later use. Like all astringent persimmons, patience is required — unripe fruit is firm and puckering, but fully ripe fruit is something else entirely.

Spectacular Seasonal Color. The American Persimmon is one of the more under appreciated ornamental native trees available. The dark green summer foliage transitions to rich shades of orange and yellow as fall arrives, providing a color display that rivals dedicated ornamental trees. 

A Wildlife Hub Through the Seasons. Deer, birds, squirrels, and a wide range of other wildlife actively seek out American Persimmon fruit, making this tree an important food source for the broader ecosystem around it. For gardeners who value wildlife habitat as part of their landscape philosophy, few native fruit trees contribute as meaningfully or as reliably through the fall and winter months.

How to Care For an American Persimmon Tree

• Plant in full sun for best fruit production and fall color. The tree adapts to most soil types as long as the site is well-drained.
• Water consistently through the first growing season to establish a strong, deep root system. Once settled in, the tree becomes drought tolerant and largely self-sufficient.
• Apply our Root Boosting Slow Release Fertilizer in early spring to support healthy shoot growth and fruit production heading into the season.
• Prune as needed to maintain the shape and size that suits your landscape; no heavy or technically demanding pruning program is required.
• American Persimmon has no serious pest or disease problems, making it one of the more carefree fruit trees you can plant

Pro-Gardener Tip: Allow fruit to reach full ripeness before harvesting as fully soft, deeply colored fruit is sweet and delicious and firm, underripe fruit is astringent and unpleasant. Patience here makes all the difference!

Why Fruit Tree Gardeners Trust Perfect Plants Nursery

When you buy your fruit trees online make sure you’re buying directly from the grower themselves. At Perfect Plants we are part of the process every step of the way from cutting to being packaged for delivery. We have over 45 years of gardening experience and channel that into every plant we deliver to our gardening customers!

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