Does anyone have any information about the Patapsco Persimmon? In researching Dr. Jim Shanks, who, if I’m not mistaken, Imported the Miss Kim and Sung Hui varieties, I stumbled across this 1998 article regarding the variety. it seems Dr. Jim Shanks passed along the Patapsco Persimmon project to Dr. Frank Gouin who was trying to develop a reliable grafting technique for the new hybrid Persimmon on his farm in Deale Maryland, named Upakrik Farm. The farm is still listed on the Maryland best website, but sadly, Dr. Gouin passed in 2018. Was Dr. Gouin ever sucessful in reliably grafting the variety? is it still around, maybe under a different name? would love to get more information as the farm is ~8.3 miles from my house as the crow flies.
sorry to that no one replied; i just heard of Dr. Shanks from EL. EL’s Michael McConkey may know more. Michael’s history with Dr. Shanks is here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J8qpm8jI0M
Hi @Bigmike1116 . I’m Jim Shanks’ granddaughter. The Patapsco Persimmons still exist on Upakrik Farm. Dr. Gouin’s wife still resides there. I have a goal of trying to graft these so that I can continue my grandfather’s legacy on my property, but I don’t know a ton about grafting. I do have another of his varieties that I got from Michael at Edible Landscaping. We also live in AACo. Would be happy to discuss this with you further!
Allison
Look up jsacadura on you tube/ bark graft. Jose used to be a regular on GF but now he is doing YouTube videos instead. A wealth of grafting knowledge.
Tony
Wow I never expected to get a response like this.
I personally don’t graft at all myself. I want to learn one day, but I have a condition called an essential tremor. it just means my hands shake when unsupported or stressed so if I had a lot of scion wood to practice (and likely fail), I would try, but it will likely never be my thing.
While I can’t volunteer anyone to come help you, I don’t doubt there are several locals on the forum that would consider visiting Upakrik Farm and help you propagate the Patapsco persimmon. @scottfsmith is a wealth of knowledge who might know people that can help you continue the legacy. @hambone isn’t far away either. here is a map of local members in our community.
You can use a grafting tool—even a cheap one works fine—if the wood is similar in diameter (doesn’t have to be exactly the same). Clefts are easy to execute, too; they can even be done entirely with a sharp pair of utility nippers or a similar tool. Bark grafts are also easy. Wedge cuts in scions—for clefts or bark grafts—can also be made supported on a cutting board.
I’ve found persimmons to be quite forgiving. As long as it’s consistently warm out and the persimmon rootstock is actively growing, a well-bound union with at least some cambial contact will take more often than not. Pears and apples are pretty easy, and good practice. If you’ve got wild calleries around, you can practice all you like.
If grafting required high dexterity, I certainly couldn’t have done it! 
You should try it.
I don’t think you understand. this is not about dexterity. my hands shake uncontrollably at random. this is a neurological condition for which there is no cure. please don’t dismiss it as a lack of “dexterity”.
Dr. Jim Shanks and Dr. Frank Gouin found this variety difficult to graft with only 8 examples propagated as of 1998. I don’t doubt that persimmons in general are easy to graft for you, but given their history with the species, I will agree with them that this variety needs extra care.
I’m not being “dismissive.” I was trying to be encouraging. Sorry you took it as something else.
Welcome to Growingfruit Allison. I live in Arlington, VA and if you could facilitate it, I would be happy to meet you at Upakrik Farm sometime during the winter to collect scion wood and then graft some trees so you can keep the variety going. I should have plenty of rootstocks to graft them to so you can have a few trees and not depend on a single one to survive.
Can you tell us anything more about the variety? Do you know if it is a non-astringent variety (you can eat them hard and crunchy with no astringency) or astringent (you must wait until they are soft and very ripe to eat them)?
It sounds like a very interesting persimmon and certainly something that should be preserved.
If Dr Gouin had trouble Grafting Patapsco, good luck for anyone else. I took a class from him years ago.
at the end of the article written in 98’ it says his success rate for grafting was 2% at that time and he was working to get it to 80%
I’m hoping it was just early days of his grafting, not that the variety was so difficult to graft. Let’s hope it yields better than 2%!
I had never heard of Patapsco persimmon, so I’m guessing he never found a reliable method. I wish there was a way to see what methods he tried and where he had the most success.
Thanks for all of the offers of help! I will reach out to Dr. Gouin’s daughter, who is also in horticulture, and see what she knows on his success in grafting them.
I know that there are also a few Patapsco trees at the UMD farms in Easton and in Sharpsburg, but I was told that I am not permitted on the farms.
If I can get cuttings, what is the best time of year to do so?
I have a feeling that the trees may just be hard to graft, or back in the 90s when they were trying rootstock just wasn’t as good or something. I can assure both my grandpa and Dr. G were amazing at grafting. We had all kinds of weird fruit combination trees at my house growing up. My favorite was the apple/plum tree.
Anyway, I’d love to give this a shot! I love persimmon trees and it would be so cool to have a yard full of my grandpa’s trees!
Thanks for leaning in and attempting to preserve this variety. Hope you connect with Upakrik Farm!