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  • Amanda's Garden Blog
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  • Roses
    • Types of Roses
    • Easy Roses
    • Climbing Roses
    • Portland's Rose Test Garden
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    • Pruning Roses
    • Rose Sawfly
    • Rose Bloom Balling
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    • Hummingbirds in Winter
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    • Fall Veggie Garden Clean-up
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    • Speeding up Tomato Harvest
    • Tomato Tips
    • Saving Tomato Seeds
    • Raspberries
    • Tomato Troubles
  • Plant Pests 1
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    • Helping Pollinators
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    • Autumn Crocus
    • Bear's Breeches
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    • Himalayan Sweet Box
    • Hydrangeas, Mophead & Lacecap
    • Jack-in-the-pulpit, Cobra Lily
    • Japanese Anemones
    • Japanese Forest Grass
    • Japanese Maples
    • Japanese Skimmia
    • Japanese Snowbell
    • Japanese Spirea
    • Japanese Spurge
    • Kale, ornamental
    • Katsura Trees
    • Kousa Dogwood
    • Laurustinus viburnum
    • Lavenders
    • Lily-of-the-Valley Shrub, Pieris japonica
    • Mediterranean Spurge
    • Mexican Mock Orange
    • Montana Clematis
    • Mountain Ash
    • Oregon Grape Holly
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    • Paperbark Maple
    • Pearl Bush
    • Persian Ironwood
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The Strawberry Tree & Pacific Madrone

Amanda's Garden Consulting Company

November: A little tree for all Seasons

Arbutus unedo 'Compacta',Pacific madrone,strawberry tree,Arbutus menziesii,gardens,gardening November,The Garden Website.com,Amanda Jarrett,Amanda’s Garden Consulting
Fruits change colour as they age turning from yellow to orange to red.
Arbutus unedo 'Compacta',Pacific madrone,strawberry tree,Arbutus menziesii,gardens,gardening November,The Garden Website.com,Amanda Jarrett,Amanda’s Garden Consulting
The compact Strawberry tree, Arbutus unedo 'Compacta', is a shrubby little tree.
Arbutus unedo 'Compacta',Arbutus unedo 'Compacta',Pacific madrone,strawberry tree,Arbutus menziesii,gardens,gardening November,The Garden Website.com,Amanda Jarrett,Amanda’s Garden Consulting
Flowers resemble upside down urns and are held in drooping clusters.
Arbutus unedo 'Compacta',Pacific madrone,strawberry tree,Arbutus menziesii,gardens,gardening November,The Garden Website.com,Amanda Jarrett,Amanda’s Garden Consulting
Flowers and fruit occur at the same time making for a stunning display.
Arbutus unedo 'Compacta',Pacific madrone,strawberry tree,Arbutus menziesii,gardens,gardening November,The Garden Website.com,Amanda Jarrett,Amanda’s Garden Consulting
Leaves are evergreen, leathery and serrated.
Arbutus menzeisii,Pacific madrone,Arbutus unedo 'Compacta',Pacific madrone,strawberry tree,Arbutus menziesii,gardens,gardening November,The Garden Website.com,Amanda Jarrett,Amanda’s Garden Consulting
Pacific madrone, Arbutus menzeisii, is an indigenous plant native to Vancouver Island.
Arbutus menzeisii,Pacific madrone,Arbutus unedo 'Compacta',Pacific madrone,strawberry tree,Arbutus menziesii,gardens,gardening November,The Garden Website.com,Amanda Jarrett,Amanda’s Garden Consulting
The Pacific madrone is found on rocky outcroppings.
Common Name: Strawberry Tree, Pacific Madrone
Botanical Name: Arbutus unedo
Form:   round
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Arbutus
Species: unedo
Plant Type:  broadleaf evergreen
Mature Size: 10-20 ft tall and wide
Growth: moderate
Origin:  Southern Europe, Mediterranean
Hardiness Zone: 7 to 9
Foliage: 4 inch long, deep green, simple, leathery, alternate, pinnate venation, serrated
Flowers: October to December, clusters of hanging fragrant, white bells with pink tinge
Fruit: ¾ inch green fruit matures to yellow then red, size and colour of strawberries when ripe
Stems: often multi-stemmed with reddish peeling bark on mature branches
Exposure: full sun best
Soil: prefers dry soils, good drainage essential, avoid rich, organic soils
Uses: specimen, accent, wildlife, woodland garden, shrub border, informal hedge, small gardens, courtyards, containers
Propagation:  softwood, semi-hardwood and hardwood cuttings
Pruning: winter, rarely needed as it is a well-shaped, compact plant
​Problems: caterpillar, scales, whitefly, root rot prevalent in wet soils
Comments:  Known for its attractive bark, a nice round canopy that bears green, yellow and red strawberry-like fruit and all at the same time. Can be grown as a small tree or large shrub especially the dwarf varieties. Suitable for small urban gardens. Arbutus grown in containers are not as hardy as those in the ground especially so winter protection is required.

This drought tolerant, waterwise plant requires good drainage and is intolerant of soggy soil.  


Although the fruit is edible, it tastes bland, which explains its botanical name. It’s a combination of unum meaning ‘one’ and ‘edo’, which translates to “I eat one”. 
Cultivars: 
  • A. unedo ‘Compacta’:  dwarf cultivar that grows from 6 to 8 ft. tall to 5 to 6 ft. wide in 10 years.
  • The Pacific Madrone, A. menziesii: An indigenous plant native to Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands and adjacent coastal mainland. Grows in rocky outcrops where soil is free-draining, shallow and nutrient-poor. Multiple trunks with twisting branches form close to the ground and often leans. Pacific madrones have the potential to grow 100ft (30 metres). It’s Canada’s only broadleaf evergreen tree and it is protected by the city of Victoria and Saanich, BC. Because of its soil requirements as well as being protected, it is not recommended nor commonly available for home gardens. A. unedo ‘Compacta’, is much more adaptable, is not a protected species, is commonly available and is recommended for home gardens. 
Arbutus unedo 'Compacta',Pacific madrone,strawberry tree,Arbutus menziesii,gardens,gardening November,The Garden Website.com,Amanda Jarrett,Amanda’s Garden Consulting
The wonderful peeling bark of the Pacific madrone.

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  • Home
  • About, Services, Contact
  • Amanda's Garden Blog
  • Ask Amanda
  • Roses
    • Types of Roses
    • Easy Roses
    • Climbing Roses
    • Portland's Rose Test Garden
    • Rose Insects & Diseases
    • Pruning Roses
    • Rose Sawfly
    • Rose Bloom Balling
  • Pruning Basics 101
    • Pruning Tools
    • Winter Pruning
    • Pruning Grapes
    • Pruning Clematis
    • Prune Your Own Garden Registration
  • Lawn Basics
    • Lawn Reno, Seed & Sod
    • Lawn Maintenance Schedule
    • Spring Lawn Care
    • Moss in Lawns
    • Lawn Alternatives
    • Lawn Grub Control
  • Mulch & Mulching
    • Living Mulches - Groundcovers
  • Propagation
    • Growing Seeds Outdoors
    • Growing Seeds Indoors
    • Hardening Off Plants
    • Taking Cuttings
    • Seed & Plant Catalogues
  • How to Garden Topics
    • Fall Garden Chores
    • Planting Know-How
    • Soil Building
    • Soil pH
    • Watering Tips & Techniques
    • Drought Gardening
    • Sheet Mulching, Lasagna Gardening
    • Cover Crops
    • Composting
    • Compost Tea
    • Houseplant Winter Care
    • Hummingbirds in Winter
    • Winterize Your Garden
    • Ponds in Winter
  • Growing Food
    • Spring Veggie Gardening
    • Fall Veggie Garden Clean-up
    • Crop Rotation, Succession & Companion Planting
    • Harvesting
    • Growing Potatoes
    • Winter Veggie Gardening
    • Taming Tomatoes
    • Speeding up Tomato Harvest
    • Tomato Tips
    • Saving Tomato Seeds
    • Raspberries
    • Tomato Troubles
  • Plant Pests 1
    • Plant Pests Part 2 - Controlling Insects
    • Garden Inspections
    • Cloches
    • Helping Pollinators
    • Critters in the Garden
    • Black Sooty Mould
    • Brown Marmorated Stink Bug
    • Dogwood Anthracnose
    • Viburnum Leaf Beetle
    • Dormant Oil/Lime Sulfur
    • Japanese Beetles
    • Peony Blotch/Measles
    • Slugs & Snails
    • Horsetail, the Weed
    • June Beetle
    • Powdery Mildew
    • Soil Solarization
    • Rhododendron Leaf Spot
    • Plant Rusts
    • Black Knot
  • Container Growing
    • Choosing a Container
  • Feeding Plants 101
    • Fertilizers & Ratios
    • Nutritional Deficiencies & Toxicities
    • Organic Plant Food
  • Monthly Flower Arrangements
    • Christmas Wreaths
  • Plant of the Month
    • Spring Flowering Bulbs
    • Colourful Fall Plants
    • Abelia
    • American Sweetgum
    • Ash (Fraxinus) Trees
    • Astilbes
    • Azaleas, Deciduous
    • Aubretia, Rock Cress
    • Aucuba, Japanese Spotted Laurel
    • Autumn Crocus
    • Bear's Breeches
    • Beautyberry, Callicarpa
    • Black-eyed Susans
    • Bleeding Heart, Lamprocapnos spectabilis
    • Calla Lilies
    • Catalpas
    • Chinese Windmill Palm
    • Columbine
    • Chrysanthemums
    • Crocuses
    • Dahlias
    • Dawn Redwood
    • Daylily
    • Delphiniums
    • Devil's Walking Stick, Aralia spinosa
    • Doghobble, Leucothoe
    • Dwarf Alberta Spruce
    • Dwarf Burning Bush
    • Elderberries, Sambucus
    • Evergreen Clematis
    • English Daisies
    • Fawn Lilies, Erythroniums
    • Fall Asters
    • Flowering Currants
    • Flowering Quince
    • Fritillaria
    • Garden Peonies
    • Garden Phlox
    • Ginkgo biloba
    • Grape-hyacinths
    • Handkerchief or Dove Tree
    • Hardy Fuchsia
    • Harry Lauder's Walking Stick
    • Heathers
    • Heavenly Bamboo
    • Hellebores, Lenten roses
    • Himalayan Sweet Box
    • Hydrangeas, Mophead & Lacecap
    • Jack-in-the-pulpit, Cobra Lily
    • Japanese Anemones
    • Japanese Forest Grass
    • Japanese Maples
    • Japanese Skimmia
    • Japanese Snowbell
    • Japanese Spirea
    • Japanese Spurge
    • Kale, ornamental
    • Katsura Trees
    • Kousa Dogwood
    • Laurustinus viburnum
    • Lavenders
    • Lily-of-the-Valley Shrub, Pieris japonica
    • Mediterranean Spurge
    • Mexican Mock Orange
    • Montana Clematis
    • Mountain Ash
    • Oregon Grape Holly
    • Oriental Poppies
    • Oriental Lilies
    • Paperbark Maple
    • Pearl Bush
    • Persian Ironwood
    • Peruvian Lily, Alstroemeria
    • Phalaenopsis, Moth Orchids
    • Photinia, Fraser
    • Poinsettias
    • Primroses
    • Persian Silk Tree
    • Portuguese Laurel
    • Rose of Sharon
    • Saucer Magnolia
    • Shrubby Cinquefoil
    • Sneezeweed, Helenium
    • Snowberry
    • Snowdrops
    • Solomon's Seal
    • Star Magnolia
    • Strawberry Tree, Pacific Madrone
    • Stewartia
    • Torch Lily, Kniphofia uvaria
    • Tree Peonies
    • Tuberous Begonias
    • Variegated Wintercreeper
    • Viburnum, Pink Dawn Bodnant
    • Virginia Creeper
    • Weigela
    • Winterhazel, Corylopsis
    • Winter Camellia, C. sasanqua
    • Winter Daphne
    • Wintergreen, Gaultheria procumbens
    • Witch Hazel
    • Wood Anemones
    • Yews
  • Garden Tours & Such
    • NW Horticultural Society July Garden Tour 2024
    • Burnaby in Blooms
    • Burnaby's Century Gardens
    • South Delta Garden Club Tour 2023
    • Garden Club Events
  • Website Index
  • May Garden Chores 2025
  • Subscribe
  • Need Help?
    • Gift Cards