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Arboretum Treasure: The Pink-Flowered Strawberry Tree

The common strawberry tree has white flower. Not so, Arbutus unedo f. rubra.

The common strawberry tree has white flowers. Not so, Arbutus unedo f. rubra.

Hidden in the Arboretum, just south of the Sorbus Collection, is a small grove of unusual strawberry trees that sport pink flowers in fall and winter. The hardy, compact, pink-blossoming form of the strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo f. rubra) grows wild in southwest Ireland and also is a great plant for the Pacific Northwest. In the latest issue of the Bulletin, garden writer Daniel Mount discusses this beautiful tree and the history of the specimens in the Arboretum. Read the full story.