North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Michele Stanton" <6ducks@gmail.com>]

Devin,
What kind of climate are you gardening in?
I've eaten physalis spp. before, but this year am growing my first crop,
Baker Creek Heirloom Seed's 'Ground Cherry'. No ripe fruit yet, but what
fruit I have doesn't look any bigger than 1/2".  And the bugs are
ferocious-- flea beetles perhaps.
Baker doesn't give the species name for these, but I'd guess they're
perennials in warmer zones. 
At any rate, I'd love to experiment with some that might be perennial in a
zone 6.  We have native Physalis here, why not larger-fruited ones, too?

Thanks
Michele in SW Ohio

-----Original Message-----
From: nafex [mailto:nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Devin
Smith via nafex
Sent: Tuesday, August 19, 2014 8:44 PM
To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: [nafex] tasty perennial Physalis

I've been slowly acquiring several varieties of perennial ground cherry.
looking for one that makes a good fruit and grows well for me. Out of 4 or 5
kinds that I've transplanted to my garden, most have been pretty
disappointing. 1/2" greenish fruit that doesn't seem to ripen up, plus a
surprising degree of pest damage for a weed (in my experience). 


However, I did find one variety that I now consider most excellent. It was
discovered along the stone foundation of an old farmhouse on which I did
some work. Noticing its unusual dwarf form and largish fruit, I transplanted
some sections of rhizome hastily, not expecting much. I found them in June
or so of last year, and though they regrew quickly from the root sections,
they didn't manage ripen their fruit before frost last year. I just tasted
some today for the first time. They are quite tasty, productive, and clearly
pretty early ripening. Size-wise, they are comparable to the peruviana "cape
gooseberries" that I've grown in the past-- about 3/4. They are not quite as
bright orange, and a bit more acidic. I'm not sure what species they are,
but my observations lead me to believe that there is significant
hybridization and variation between types rather than distinct species as
such. They are low growing enough to make a good groundcover, though they
don't seem to grow thick enough on their own to exclude other plants. Mine
seem to be mingling well with dutch clover and Ajuga though. 


Is anyone else dabbling with Physalis? They seem to be largely ignored. I
consider them good eating, and find the best ones to be quite agreeable. For
totally unimproved plants, they seem to hold a lot of potential. They
certainly are easy enough to grow!

-Devin
__________________
nafex mailing list
nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
subscribe/unsubscribe|user config|list info|make a donation toward list
maintenance:
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/nafex
message archives
https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/nafex
Google message archive search:
site: lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/nafex [searchstring] nafex list mirror
sites:
http://groups.google.com/group/nafexlist
https://sites.google.com/site/nafexmailinglist
Avant Geared  http://www.avantgeared.com