Strawberry Tree
Since moving to Washington, I have discovered a great number of new trees. One of my favorites is the Strawberry Tree ( Arbutus unedo ). It is a four-season tree with semi-glossy evergreen leaves and lovely mahogany bark. In autumn, clusters of white flowers appear, bearing a resemblance to Lily-of-the-Valley flowers. And then there are the little fruits, which resemble strawberries that appear at the same time as the flowers. I am not sure why, but I have only seen a few fruits on ours. I don't know if birds are getting them before I see them or what happens. The fruits are said to be edible but not very tasty (to humans). This year, our tree is loaded with flowers, the most I've ever seen. Bees absolutely love it and so do the hummingbirds. The flowers usually continue to appear straight through winter, and it can be blooming even during the coldest periods of winter. Aside from the fact that I have not seen much of the colorful fruits, the major negative note is the fact tha
OMG, Phillip. So sorry. As a tree and shrub expert I always told my potential Bradford Pear buyers that they had a tendency to split or break in high winds. BTW, love your header photo.
ReplyDeleteLook forward to meeting you here in my new neck of the woods at Springfling Asheville in May. Just started up my new blog at http://www.sweethomeand garden carolina.blogspot.com
Hi Carolyn, this wasn't my tree. I don't have any Bradford Pears. I saw several in town that wound up like this after the storms on Friday. I will check out your blog!
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ReplyDeleteI'm no fan of them either. I'd plant an American Plum instead, the butterflies and bees love the flowers and critters like the fruit, no brainer to me.
Yup there's always some around here like that too after severe storms.
ReplyDeleteThey have mostly been blown out of our area too.
ReplyDeleteAmen. In Connecticut we lost every single Bradford pear in town when heavy wet snow hit in October. Some fell over, some imploded in a flat circle, and the few left standing had more than half their canopies broken at odd angles and cracked up in total confusion. It will be interesting to see if malls and municipalities replant the same pears!
ReplyDeleteoh Dear! Love your new header Phillip!
ReplyDeleteI never miss an opportunity to trash talk this tree.
ReplyDeleteThe Bradfords are so pretty, but about three years ago a gentleman from Auburn spoke here about them. Not only did he enumerate all that could happen to them, he mentioned financial liability. Nuff said on that one.
ReplyDeleteI love fringe trees. I need to continue with my series "bradford pears not" on my blog. Spring flowers started blooming & I got side track. Mom called me after the April tornado's at 4 in the morning and the only thing she was worried about was the big limb which fell off of hers. I told her well they do that. When the neighbor came to cut the limb up I told her to get him to cut the whole thing down as it will continue. The next storm she called & every limb had broken in a circle. I told her again well they do that. She got mad at me for my lack of sympathy. Mary
ReplyDeleteWell, this is crap, huh?! Glad its not yours. It could have at least had the manners to fully make it through its bloom season before keeling over.
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