A little know but fascinating tree was the subject of our first program
of 2005. The Princess Persimmon is a flowering and fruiting deciduous
tree with a built in potential for delightful styles that show off
these attributes. Diospyrosus Rhombifolia, originally discovered in
China and imported to Japan where it is favored for ichibana and as
bonsai for about the past 25 years.
Dennis Vojtilla has literally brought this tree to our attention
locally. Most of the trees Dennis brought with him have a young and
fresh character. Prodigious growers the trees develop quickly and can
become show able in a relatively short time. They prefer partial sun
which is always and advantage in San Francisco and can be kept
relatively small another plus for us city dwellers with limited space.
Dennis jumped right in with his introduction of the princess persimmon
by explaining that for pollination purposes of flowers and fruit it is
necessary to have a male tree and a female tree. He brought along many
examples of each and explained how to tell them apart. In their current
dormant stage the females were conspicuous by the fruit still clinging
to their bare branches, very lovely in the fall, according to Dennis.
In the spring the different sexes produce differently shaped flowers
were the male sepals grip the body of the flower and the female sepals
lift up and away. The flowers themselves are a soft cream color and
both male and female flowers bud out proceeding the tree leafing out.
Flower of both should be fairly simultaneous for successful
pollination.
Dennis is the proud cultivator of approximately 5000 of these trees
which he has grown from the original 1200 he imported from Japan about
14 years ago. During his presentation he demonstrated techniques for
styling on the various trees he brought with him. It is the females on
which he concentrates his styling energies because of the extended
season of fruit. Though he acknowledges that even without fruit the
males can be developed into interesting trees in their own right.
?Big moves? as Dennis put it are in order when beginning to style these
trees left to grow unchecked for many years. He began by reducing one
tree down from two trunks to one. Looking to simplify the tree which is
often grown in the bunjin style or as shohin. The other reduction is
to cut back branches which have developed inter nodes further apart
than the width of his thumb or about 3/4?. Dennis? rule of thumb or
pinkie for shohin size. This approach involves dramatic reduction which
Dennis assures us the tree can recover from rapidly if done during
dormancy with the resulting wounds hollowed out with a sharp knife and
properly sealed. The heavy cutting back is rewarded with multiple
sprouts which can then be reduced and trained to fit the style of the
tree. In fact the rapid growth has to be watched carefully especially
top branches which can outpace the rest of the tree so it is important
to make cuts early as the branches grow.
The tree is generally very limber and takes well to wiring and bending
but you must be careful at branch joints which are easy to snap.
Serious bending is best done with raffia protection on the branch. On
one the female trees, which was eventually raffled off, Denis cut back
to a secondary branch that was growing in an upward direction to
replace the trunk with more taper. He protected the branch with raffia
and proceeded to twist and bend it into a quirky bunjin style. After
styling he repotted the tree removing at least half the roots. He
recommends washing off the older soil and replacing it with a good
deciduous mix. These trees should be potted in a deeper pot than you
would put maples, for instance, and like to be kept moist. Don?t expect
a big show of flowers until the second year after root pruning and
repotting. Keep the tree in semi-shade as too much sun can burn leaves
and fruit.
Princess persimmons can be propagated through seed but more easily from
root cuttings.
The other happy news is that this tree seems to be resistant to most
vermin except scale which can be controlled with a dormant spray.
Note: Dennis will be selling the male/female Princess persimon at the
annual BABA show the weekend of Jan 29-30 Lakeside Garden Center,
Oakland.

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