Sorry to have just now found this thread. I'm a persimmon freak! I have plenty of wild persimmons in my area but seldom harvest any. I much prefer the Oriental/Japanese persimmons.
I'd recommend checking out this source, Gardenbees.
www.eat-it.com The company, Edible Landscaping, only sells plants that give us something to eat from. I've bought quite a few plants from them over the years.
Sheng persimmon is my favorite. If they have it available I'd go for it. I noticed you mentioned you were in zone 7-something but knowing your State would also help, especially when talking about potential wilts and such. I'm in NC and have not witnessed any wilt attacks with Sheng. I bet it it out there somewhere though! :>_)
Sheng is grafted but I'll ask Michael (Edible Landscaping owner) which rootstock it is grafted on.
This tree, in 2004, was only 3 yrs old and gave us a nice "beginner's harvest" in that short time. The following year I'm sure I picked more than 100 fruit. The next year I stopped counting at 300.
Shoe
