In one of the driest years I can remember, the persimmon and guava trees in my garden have produced more fruit than I've ever seen before. What's up with that?! I can't walk through my north side garden without ducking my head to avoid the ripening persimmons - or, more commonly, hitting my head on the hanging fruit when I'm not paying attention.
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| This is the 'Hachiya' persimmon (Diospyros kaki). The tree's fall foliage doesn't live up to expectations but the fruit is beautiful. |
The 'Fuyu' persimmon in the cutting garden is also loaded with fruit, the majority of which hangs over the fence that divides that part of the garden from what I call the north side garden.
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| This is the 'Fuyu' variety. The fruit has a flat bottom and is said to be less astringent. This tree reliably produces the most colorful fall foliage in my garden. |
Neither my husband nor I care much for persimmons. One source describes it as the "fruity love child of a mango and a roasted sweet pepper, with some cinnamon in the background." I don't care for its texture, which is accurately described as "slippery." I've already given some of it away but, as more of it ripens on the trees, I'd like to off-load the rest of it as soon as possible. While all the critters, other than an occasional squirrel, ignore the still-green guavas, the persimmons attract a variety of creatures. The raccoons break tree limbs getting to the fruit and frequently leave it half-eaten on the ground to rot. Some fruit gets eaten while it's still on the tree. I thought the culprit was a squirrel until I caught sight of this:
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| That's no squirrel! |
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| He (or she) looked up at me and then kept on eating. Doesn't he/she look healthy? My cat's fur is less silky. According to another reference, persimmons are a good source of fiber, vitamins A, C and B-6, potassium, and manganese. |
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| Not wanting to get too close to the rat, I went inside to get my telephoto lens to capture a better shot but, by the time I got back, the rat had left. I'm not sure which is worse: picking up half-eaten, rotting fruit from the ground, or trying to pull it off the tree. |
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All material © 2012-2021 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party