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Arbutus
Jun
We planted a Madrone, Arbutus menziesii, just over a decade ago. Simon Rickard, as fine a gardener as he is a musician, gave me a pinch of seed which germinated well.
This broad-leafed, evergreen tree is uncommon in Australian gardens. I know of only a dozen or so mature trees of this species growing in this country.
Planted in a dry, well drained sunny spot in our garden the Madrone has made a small tree some 4 metres tall by a couple of metres across in 10 years. Flowering for the first time last spring, the resulting fruits took forever to ripen. I checked them daily from early autumn not wanting to pick them before they were fully ripe. As is the nature of such things, the blackbirds decided they were ready before I did, gobbling them up leaving a scant dozen for me.
Whilst the small Andromeda-like flower bells of A. menziesii are not as beautiful as those of the more commonly found Irish Strawberry Tree, Arbutus unedo, nor its fruits as large nor as edible, it more than makes up for this by its extraordinarily beautiful, exfoliating bark. During autumn, its bark has turned copper-red. This peels to expose smooth, silvery-green new bark beneath.
Madrone, a plant of barren, rocky haunts on the coastal fringe of western north America from British Columbia to California, has a deserved reputation for being difficult to domesticate. It needs perfect drainage, acid soil, very little to no fertilizer, and some luck. Susceptible to several Phytophthora species in the wild, it may be susceptible to P. cinnamomic, which is widespread in Australia, killing such ornamentals as Rhododendron and devastating native forests especially in West Australia.
A small seedling of Madrone is more likely to thrive than an advanced one. For all of that if you can actually get hold of a Madrone it would be well worth every effort.
Talking of the Irish Strawberry Tree, when I first started working in Australian nurseries sixty years ago (my goodness is it that long ago?) it was ubiquitous. You could find many stately trees flourishing throughout older inner Melbourne suburbs and smaller trees in newer outer areas. I was reminded by just how beautiful this tree can be by a specimen growing just around the corner from a house Criss and I have bought, and hope to retire to, in central Ballarat.
Arbutus menziesii’s extraordinarily beautiful, exfoliating bark.
During early winter this rounded tree, about 4 metres tall by as much across, had a good crop of fruit which closely resembles a strawberry both in colour and size. At the same time there were panicles of small bell-shaped flowers. The fruit takes a full year from when the flower is pollinated to ripening. Whilst not tasting like strawberries the fruit is very sweet, full of vitamins and healthy organic acids. Most often they are used to make jam but the Portuguese and the Albanians make strong liquors from them.