A friend of mine (she's in zone 5) wants to get a Persimmon tree, does anyone have any online sources?
Preferably not a seedling, so it is closer to fruiting size.

For native persimmons try Nolin River Nut Tree Nursery at: http://www.nolinnursery.com/

I was looking at them for Paw paws too, the prices are wonderful for large trees

Frank

Diospyrus virginiana, hardy to zone 4 and above.
From One Green World. They used to sell lousy trees, but have now improved in quality, much more, including their website is much better now. BUT, the prices have also increased.


Early Golden: http://www.onegreenworld.com//product_info.php?products_id=892




Garretson: http://www.onegreenworld.com//product_info.php?products_id=901





John Rick: http://www.onegreenworld.com//product_info.php?products_id=912
Meader: http://www.onegreenworld.com//product_info.php?products_id=923



Male Persimmon (to improve fruit sets): http://www.onegreenworld.com//product_info.php?products_id=922



virginiana x kaki hybrids (bigger fruits)
Nikita's gift: http://www.onegreenworld.com//product_info.php?products_id=952


Other hardy hybrids to zone 5:
Keener
Rosseyenka

i was looking at the links with the persimmons and i have a question on the details they provide.

what is or does "Sunset Western Zone:" and "Sunset Northeast Zone:" mean? what kind of information is this trying to tell me?

It is impossible to cram all the climatic information into a single number. So it means that even if you have the same temperature averages for a particular zone, you will have to consider the characteristic climate of the region stated. The term Sunset is from the Sunset Magazine's designation.

Susan,
Those are zones used along the west coast, most likely of little use for you or your friend.

I would highly recommend Nolin River. I've ordered from both One Green World and Nolin River. NR is a small family owned/operated nursery that has a wide selection of native persimons and provides excellent customer service. One Green World may have the slicker website, but they sent me a diseased fig tree, ignored my e-mail about it, then had the nerve to ask me to donate to the nursery owner's local political campaign (I live on the other side of the country from his district, thank goodness).

Gene, thanks for that info. A few years back, OGW sent crappy items to our side of the continent. But lately, from other fellow hobbyists, by and large they have improved. I always take it with a balanced view, via repeated samplings from their performances. Too bad, California cannot import any persimmon plants. Most out of state online stores should indicate Cannot Ship To California for items like citruses, blackberries and persimmons.

Hi Joe, good to hear they're improving. I do look longingly at their catalog from time to time -- but fortunately most of what they sell can be had elsewhere. I still buy from Raintree, like the Nikita's Gift persimmon, which they must get from OGW/Northwoods. That's a nice persimmon, but am not sure that it would survive zone 5.

A lot of my trees came from Raintree, truly great online nursery worth their price.

A friend of mine in the East Coast zone 4b have great success with Nikita's Gift. There is a trick to increase the hardiness of some of the persimmon hybrids when their young. Spray a solution of 10% low biuret Urea two weeks after leaf fall. This increases the hardiness of the sap due to the higher solute content absorb. The more solute the sap has, the lower is the freezing point and the lower damages are from ice crystals.

This technique can even be done to plums, peaches, apricots that have swollen buds ahead of time. Simply spray the 10% urea (low biuret) during budswell, it increases the frost hardiness of the buds and subsequent flowers. Do not spray during flower opening, only up to pink stage.