Steve, Meader is not self-fertile; however, it is a member of the Early Golden/Garretson family, members of which have a genetic propensity for occasionally having a branch here and there that produces male flowers which can fertilize the female flowers on the rest of the tree - which will result in seeded fruits. Meader will often set seedless fruits in the PNW, but that's a climatic fluke - in the east, you'll either get overproduction of seeded fruit(translating into small fruit size) or no fruit production at all if there is no 90-chromosome persimmon pollen around to fertilize the female flowers on your tree. If there are no native 90-chromosome male persimmons in your area, I'd advise planting one - or even better yet, one of the polygamodioecious(bisexual male) selections, such as Szukis or Claypool F-100. Like gene, I also have some deep-woods persimmons on the farm here that are probably 60 ft tall - and 40+ ft to the first remaining branch; but open-grown persimmons are more likely to take on a spreading orchard-tree type of growth habit, not unlike a standard apple tree. I'm not tech-savvy enough to post photos here, but if you'll send me an email, I've got some photos of heavy-bearing open-grown persimmon trees, and some close-ups of the flowers that I can send as email attachments.

Whoops, this is why i should have double checked I thought I was in Tropical fruits, and this is tropical plants. But here is a link that might help Here is a link that might be useful: Monterey Bay Nursery

We went with a dark charcoal gray and light cream tile checkerboard pattern -- natural stone look but two contrasting colors arranged in a checkerboard pattern set on the diagonal. It's not installed yet, so I don't have pics, but I think it's going to look nice. We had the same dilemma with white cabs, marble counters and not doing a wood floor. Good luck.

Kristinekr~ I don't really do anything special to keep my grout clean. I just vacuum often & I use my swiffer wet jet :) I have 3 boys, so I am cleaning constantly! deeinohio~ The tile is not travertine. I don't remember the manufacturer but I will try to look & see if we still have a box left over with the name! I'm still torn about what to do with those windows! The family room & kitchen are one open space. I have a pretty bold rug in the family room, so I don't really want to put a different rug in the kitchen with more color. I am afraid it will clash.