I inherited 2 persimmon trees with the house. They were planted by the guy we bought the house from, which means they're relatively young trees as he owned the house just over a year. They didn't produce much in the way of fruit during our first years here but they did have pretty fall foliage.
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| 2013 fall foliage |
This year, the foliage looks terrible but the trees produced a lot of fruit. While many of the immature fruits dropped early on, quite a bit was left to ripen on the trees.
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| Ripening fruit earlier this month |
It disappeared rather rapidly. The fruits nearest the fence top in the vegetable garden went first but these were quickly followed by the fruits on the tree in the dry garden. I initially held the raccoons responsible for knocking the fruit to the ground, even when I found a squirrel polishing off a decaying persimmon.
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| I've heard that persimmons are best when they're over-ripe; however, this guy took that message to the extreme |
But the squirrels don't need help from the raccoons. After all, they have the run of the place during the day.
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| Squirrel eating a persimmon right from the tree |
There are no persimmons left on either tree. Meanwhile, the squirrels are also running off with the guavas, hiding some and eating others.
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| Guava crumbs |
Really, our backyard offers squirrels a full range of amenities.
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| A comfortable seat at the birdseed bar |
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| Flowers for the picking when fruit and seeds gets same-old, same-old |
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| Fresh water at the fountain |
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| Scenic locations to hang out |
Squirrels, they own the place.
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© 2012-2015 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
