A concern I'd have about incorporating fruit trees into landscape designs is the need to make the assumption that whoever was ultimately responsible for the care of the tree, whether it be the property owner or the landscaper, would understand the special needs of fruit trees (as compared to nonfruiting landscape trees.)With Asian persimmons though, you can almost get away with it as their special requirements as fruiting trees are fewer than most. Some things that do come to mind: Many varieties of Asian persimmons overbear and if the trees are not pruned in the proper manner as fruiting trees and /or the fruit thinned, the branches are likely to break under the load of fruit, giving the tree a misshapen appearance. Too much nitrogen can cause the tree to abort its crop. Also be aware of persimmon psylla which can cause distortion of leaves and make grotesque specimens of younger trees. As far as varieties go, I would second Lucky's choice of Great Wall, which is one of the most cold hardy. This makes a symmetric, compact, lush tree with smallish fruit that stays on the tree well into the winter giving almost 4 season visual appeal. ( Eventually after a few deep freezes the persimmons do become dark and wrinkled.)Some like the fruit fresh, but I dehydrate nearly all of mine into a high quality dried fruit that lasts for months (Still eating mine picked in November.)

Hman, I think I read the same info you did (linked by a Nafex member). To me, the evidence seems pretty anectodal. A few countries banned neonicotinoids and bee populations supposedly stabilized (I'd like to see the statistics from countries that did not ban neonicotinoids.) Regarding the article, I must say, it is poorest research correlation I can think of. There are so many variables affecting bee health, to assume there is a linkage b/t neonicotinoids and colony collapse disorder without isolating any other variables leaves so many questions, it renders the conclusions worthless. I can remember when people where convinced GM plants were the culprit of CCD (I mean really convinced.) Strangely, that hypothesis has fallen out of disfavor. The Sierra Club has taken advantage of the opportunity and is lobbying congress to ban neonicotinoids. You know as well as I, the Sierra Club would ban every pesticide they could, if they had the power. I'm not saying we should dismiss the possible causal relationship (of neonicotinoids and CCD) rather, wait for real research to answer the questions. If neonicotinoids are demonstrated by research to cause bee disorientation on non-blooming crops, and thereby implicated in CCD, that's one thing. But so far, the loose linkage leaves a lot of doubt in my mind. Lastly, one other piece of the puzzle that leaves me skeptical is that some neonicotinoids (ex. Assail) are registered as Reduced Risk Pesticides by the EPA. The primary criteria are low impact on the environment (i.e. bees) and low mammalian toxicity. There has been extensive research done to be able to register these compounds as Reduced Risk Products. I'm not saying more research shouldn't be done, but I'm unwilling to accept loose correlations in favor or conclusions from hard research.

I usually note changes in my persimmons after they've been subjected to temperatures in the mid 20's, and I've assumed that they had frozen at those temperatures. This is supported by chemical theory which predicts a freezing point of about 28 degrees F for persimmons. The reason the freezing point is not lower despite all the sugar solutes is that the predominant molecules, glucose and fructose, are complex and heavy and so are inefficient at depressing the freezing point.(as compared to simple ionic molecules like table salt).

Aha, now we know why she enjoyed it so much! The fumes got to her, lol. Poor Karyn getting picked on for roasting bugs. I would too if I had the nerve. I just realized how often I post "mine died". Dang I lost a lot of brugs over the winter. I'm scared to do anything to hurt them, lol. I will never get cuttings again during the later winter or at least not be buying the expensive ones then. I don't seem to have that much trouble growing other things but passion flower vines. I've killed several of those as well and keep getting them, lol.