Diospyros kaki 'Fuyu' - Fuyu Persimmon

The 'Fuyu' Persimmon tree is much like the 'Hachiya' except the fruit are less pointed, and from an eating perspective, less astringent. Trees typically growto 25' with an equal spread forming a rounded, oval or umbrella habit.  While I have not read others mention the spring or summer color of the leaves, these trees all seem to have yellowish foliage. Trees will reliably develop wonderful fall color.

Leaves are deciduous, simple, 3-5" long, ovate to elliptical shaped, entire margins, dark glossy green with distinct veins with a slight leathery texture. Very attractive in summer.

Especially attractive in the fall as they turn to yellow and orange.

Trees are monoecious, male and female flowers blooming in the spring to summer.

Fruit is a large orange berry, 3" wide, but about 2" tall, looking like a squatty apple. Retains its large green calix.

Stems originally slightly hairy, eventually without hairs. Dark rich brown with large lenticels.

Bark is great on all the persimmons.


Misidentification:
As a persimmon I doubt it, but cultivars are another matter. Distinguishing between 'Fuyu' and 'Hachiya' is easy if you see fruit, otherwise you are on your own. There are lots of 'Fuyu' like cultivars available.

If you have a different cultivar in a public space I would be very interested in seeing them.

Location:

Aptos
7535 Soquel Dr.

Corralitos
Corralitos Rd close to the Market, across the street is a row of both cultivars.

Santa Cruz
1104 King St
935 High St

Diospyros kaki 'Hachiya' - Hachiya Persimmon Tree

The Hachiya persimmon tree is a beautiful small deciduous tree with wonderful orange fall color and tasty fruit. I do like the trees without foliage better than with but it is one of the nicest small trees for fall color. Growing to 25' with an equal spread forming a rounded, oval or umbrella habit, they are easily keep smaller if you want to harvest the fruit. This one has a sign saying "please don't pick the fruit".

Foliage is alternate, simple, elliptical to ovate shaped, entire margins, dark glossy green in summer and yellow to orange in the fall.

Persimmon trees are dioecious, male and female plants. Flowers in the spring, small green and hardly noticeable. My guess is that these cultivars are all females.

Fruit is a large orange berry, oval shaped, over 3". Large persistent calix. Picked firm and allowed to ripen.

Stems are lightly downy when young, eventually becoming glabrous.

Bark is wonderful, deeply sectioned into rectangular blocks.

Misidentification: Fuyu Persimmon, which looks just like this except the fruit are flatter, without the point on the bottom.

Location:

Aptos

520 Townsend Ave (on the side street Granada)

Santa Cruz:

412 Windham

Prunus serrulata 'Ukon'

I love cherry trees in bloom. I find it interesting that there are so many different varieties to choose from, but most are not easily available. This cultivar is just around the corner from my house and I always love watching the color of the flowers change over the two weeks the three trees are in bloom. 

Like other cherries, this is a small deciduous tree grown mostly for the flower display in spring, but like many cherries it also has nice fall color.

What is unique about Ukon is the flowers start out chartreuse which is something I had never seen before with cherries. You can see the color in the photo below.

As the flowers age they develop a white with pink blush coloring.

Misidentification: Perhaps Shirofugen cherry, another that changes colors but does not have the chartreuse initial color and Shirofugen has a more flat topped habit and has way more petals per flower.

Location:
Aptos 508 Humes Rd.

Parrotia persica - Persian Parrotia

A rather unusual tree here and for that matter elsewhere. It never really seems to catch on anywhere. Too bad, it has a nice shape though variable, with beautiful fall color and potentially nicely colored leaves in the spring. Its also drought tolerant. You have to love a tree that's common name is the scientific name in reverse. Shows how little it's used.

The Persian Parrotia is potentially a large tree but usually remains small to medium sized, around 20-40' with an irregular shape. They may be rounded or with upright ascending branches. These two shown below are located at Westonbirt Arboretum in the UK. The evergreen trees between the two are Calocedrus decurrens.

This is the one in my old yard in Spokane, showing the incredible variety of fall colors.

This is the foliage of the one on High Drive.

Leaves are very attractive, alternate, oval to obovate, 2-4" with distinct stipules at the base of the petiole. Upper half of the leaf has serrations while the lower half is more or less entire. Leaf sort of looks like witch hazel leaves. New growth in the spring is a light soft green and can have an intense purple margin like the one shown.

This one below is from my garden in Spokane, and maybe I should have propagated it for the leaf colors, I didn't realize that was not that common.

Flowers are quite interesting but often not seen or even overlooked. They are red and this image shows them fully open!

Fruit is a capsule.

Stems are pubescent, brown to gray. Buds are scaled and both types (flower and vegetative) are stalked.

One of the coolest things about this tree is the trunk. The branches seem to grow in any direction they choose, and often run into each other. I saw many old trees in England where the stems were grafting to one another.

Misidentification: Really cant think of anything, the leaves are pretty distinct.

Locations:
Aptos:
420 Clubhouse Drive. While you are there you will see a white flowered redbud, a t Michelia

 yunnanensis, an Azara microphylla 'Variegata' among other plants in a nicely landscaped yard.

Carbillo College Hort gardens, in the beds overlooking the ocean.

Santa Cruz :
ProBuild Nursery planted along River St.
304 Goss right along the street
941 High St are 2 of the nicest ones I have seen.

Quercus palustris - Pin Oak

The Pin Oak is a great oak species. They are large, deciduous, upright, strongly pyramidal, with a distinct central leader growing quickly to 50' or so. Lateral branches are horizontal near the middle of the tree and somewhat weeping near the base. In soils with a near basic pH or higher it usually develops some leaf chlorosis. This one is older and has lost some of the typical habit.

Leaves are alternate, simple, 3-5" long, deeply lobed with bristle tipped lobes. Main lobes form a "U". Dark green in summer and bright red in fall. Looks like several other oaks and can be hard to differentiate (Q. coccinea, Q. nigra, Q. schumardii, and Q. ellipsoidalis).

Fruit is an acorn. Cap is small. Fruit matures in second year.

Male flowers are borne in catkins.

Stems are thin, green-brown in color. Buds are imbricate, pretty sharp tipped, smallish for an oak.

Fall color is fantastic. Reds and oranges, eventually brown colors. Same tree as above.

This is a screen shot of both trees.

Misidentification: Other bristle tipped oaks. Red Oak leaves are not as deeply lobed nor are the trees pyramidal in shape. Terminal buds are also smaller and sharply pointed.

Location:
Aptos

Cabrillo along the road between the football field and the new arts and performing center.
411 St Andrews Drive

Santa Cruz: Pacific Blvd close to SC book shop