News location:

Canberra Today 22°/25° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

An easy fruit that needs little love

THINK fruit, and our minds usually turn to varieties such as apples, pears, peaches and nectarines, which all need constant attention and chemicals to keep pests and diseases.

However, there are fruit trees that require little attention, such as persimmons.

Some would suggest persimmon fruit is an acquired taste. I came to persimmons only three years ago. Clients of mine had two well-established trees in their garden and gave me some fruit to try. I popped them in a bowl and there they sat until I decided how to eat them. Finally, peeling one like an apple, I found the taste was so delicious that, after chocolate, my second addiction is now persimmons.

You might think that persimmon trees require a large amount of space, but at the Heritage Nursery, at Yarralumla, I found the new Jiro Sweet Dwarf Persimmon (Diospyros kaki), an early-season variety, ready for eating in late February/March and is self-pollinating.

It has several advantages over many other larger-growing persimmons – it can be maintained to just two metres high, which means it could be grown in a large container such as a half barrel, and it is non-astringent and can be picked once the fruit turns orange.

In Peter Valder’s book “Garden Plants of China” he notes: “Persimmons are one of the most important fruit trees in China. They are not known in the wild, but have been have been cultivated for several thousand years.     “They were mentioned in literature and seeds have been excavated from a tomb dated 168BC. They are particularly handsome when the leaves have fallen and the fruit turns bright orange as it matures.

“In 1911, the plant hunter Meyer noted in northern China that to keep the fruit in winter, it was piled high outside and allowed to freeze and kept frozen until needed.

“It is said that there are about 240 varieties of persimmon in China. They have been used in medicine and making wine and vinegar. The juice of green persimmons has been used for waterproofing paper, the latter of which originated in China.

“During the Tang dynasty it was noted the persimmon tree had seven virtues – it lives a long time, provides shade, birds do not nest in it, it is resistant to worms and grubs, the autumn leaves are enjoyable and one can practice calligraphy on the fallen leaves.”

All very good reasons to grow a persimmon. And yet, despite all these attributes, it never did take the western world by storm when first introduced and even today many folk, like me, took a long time to accept them.


NEXT week I will look at peonies. Once again, Valder explores the origins of these stunning flowers in China with the comment :“Whilst the flowers of the tree peony are extravagant and sumptuous, the herbaceous kinds are smaller, but have a quality and refinement which immediately claims the attention”.

Stocks of peonies have now arrived at the Heritage Nursery.

This week…

  • Feed bulbs with a high potassium plant nutrient once flower heads start to form.

  • When buying fruit trees, make sure they have a compatible variety for pollination. This applies to apples, pears, peaches, cherries and nectarines with the odd exception.

  • Stuck for a present for a friend with a new garden? “The Canberra Gardener” is the answer.

  • Spray flowering ornamental and fruit trees with Bordeaux or Kocide at the pink tip stage, ie when the flower buds swell BUT before the flowers open. This prevents leaf curl and brown rot in fruit.

Who can be trusted?

In a world of spin and confusion, there’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in Canberra.

If you trust our work online and want to enforce the power of independent voices, I invite you to make a small contribution.

Every dollar of support is invested back into our journalism to help keep citynews.com.au strong and free.

Become a supporter

Thank you,

Ian Meikle, editor

Cedric Bryant

Cedric Bryant

Share this

Leave a Reply

Related Posts

Gardening

Blue flowers brighten a drab plant

"The sky-blue flowers are most interesting with a little frill on each of the petals that make up for this drab looking plant," says gardening writer JACKIE WARBURTON of common chicory.

Follow us on Instagram @canberracitynews