Strawberry Tree SEEDS – Arbutus unedo, PERENNIAL SHRUB Caribbeangardenseed

Accent /specimen with four-season ornamental interest. Woodland garden margins, mixed shrub borders, road medians, seaside gardens, hedges, screens.

Arbutus unedo, the strawberry tree, is an evergreen shrub or small tree in the flowering plant family Ericaceae, native to the Mediterranean region and western Europe north to western France and Ireland.
rbutus unedo, commonly called strawberry tree, is a broadleaf evergreen shrub or small tree that is native rocky slopes, hillsides, and shrublands of the Mediterranean and the British Isles. It typically grows in a multi-stemmed form, but can be trained as a single trunk tree. It matures to 10-15′ tall but infrequently grows to as much as 30′ tall. Mature trunks and branches are covered with grayish-brown bark which peels and flakes to reveal an attractive reddish-brown inner bark. Urn-shaped, aromatic, pinkish-white flowers in drooping panicles (to 2″ long) bloom in October, with bloom often continuing until January. Long-stemmed, spherical, green fruits (to 1″diameter) appear in winter after the flowers, but take almost a full year to ripen. As new white flowers begin to bloom in October, the fruits from the preceding winter ripen to strawberry red, leaving the plant with the unusual situation of having both attractive flowers and ripe fruit at the same time. Although the ripe fruits (each to 3/4″ in diameter) have the same color as strawberries, they unfortunately do not have the same flavor as strawberries (exceedingly bland). Glossy, leathery, obovate, dark green leaves (to 4″ long) have red stems and serrate margins.

HOW TO GROW THE STRAWBERRY TREE FROM SEED

 Use a good quality compost ‘ or create your own using 2 part moss peat and 1 part lime-free horticultural sand. Sow the seeds in pans, or large modular trays, water in and then place inside a cold frame.

Once the seedlings have emerged, they can be pricked out, but be careful so as to reduce any damage to the root systems. Plant these on onto individual 3-4 inch pots using John Innes ‘No 2’, gently water in and place back into the cold frame for another year or so.

The young plants will be ready for transplanting into their final positions in May to March. They will require a sunny sheltered position away from cold northerly or easterly winds. They are happy in an ordinary well-drained, but moist soil, but they will perform best in alkaline soils.