Cold hardiness

Future

2050

2100

These values are location-based: this location's current hardiness is the baseline, and the 2050 value is a projected future climate for this same location.

Now

Zone 6b

USDA

Published baseline for this location from 1991-2020.

Source: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 (1991-2020 climatology) via ArcGIS FeatureServer

Won't grow here

2050

Zone 7a

Plotwright

Projected zone for this same location in 2050 (2041-2070) using SSP3-7.0 (regional rivalry).

Marginal

In plain terms: This location is in Zone 6b today. Its hardiness profile is cold winters, and coldest nights are typically around -3°F. By 2050, the projected hardiness zone is Zone 7a based on SSP3-7.0 (regional rivalry). That is a +0.5-zone shift from Zone 6b to Zone 7a by 2050.

✕→⚠

Out of range today, but marginally possible by 2050.

Heat tolerance

Future

2050

2100

Heat tolerance values are location-based too: heat days today are observed at this site, and the 2050 value projects this same location under a future climate.

Loading AHS heat-zone data for this location...

Where this plant fits

Suitable across 43 ecoregions — 40 climate-resilient through 2070 · 3 newly possible by 2070. Best matches first.

Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests

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Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests

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Arizona Mountains forests

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Atlantic coastal pine barrens

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Blue Mountains forests

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California coastal sage and chaparral

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Canadian Aspen forests and parklands

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Central Pacific Northwest coastal forests

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Central Tallgrass prairie

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Central-Southern Cascades Forests

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What it needs

Conditions

Light

Full sun / Part shade

Water

Low water

Spacing

120"

Habit

Evergreen shrub or small tree with dark glossy leaves, shredding red-brown bark, and white urn-shaped flowers borne alongside red warty strawberry-like fruit in autumn; drought- and lime-tolerant but only moderately cold-hardy and disliking waterlogging.

Care tips

•

Site it in a warm, sheltered, free-draining spot — it is only moderately cold-hardy (H4, roughly zone 7+), so avoid hard-winter and waterlogged ground.

•

Water young plants through their first dry summers to establish, then rely on its real drought tolerance and cut back on watering.

•

Plant it where the autumn flower-and-fruit-together display and peeling red-brown bark can be seen up close.

Lifecycle

Planting

Plant in spring in full sun to part shade, in free-draining soil — it tolerates lime and poor ground but dislikes waterlogging. In cooler areas give it a warm, sheltered spot against a wall.

Transplanting

Set out young container plants while small; arbutus resents root disturbance, so avoid moving established specimens and disturb the rootball as little as possible.

Early growth

Slow-growing, especially early on. Water through the first dry summers to establish, then it becomes notably drought-tolerant; shelter young plants from hard frost.

Maturity

Matures slowly into a rounded shrub or small tree roughly 8-15 feet tall and wide, flowering and fruiting in autumn each year once settled. Long-lived and largely self-reliant in a mild, well-drained site.

Propagation

Grow from seed sown fresh in autumn, or from semi-ripe cuttings in late summer under cover; cuttings can be slow and erratic to root.

Pollination

Self-fertile

Insect-pollinated and a valuable late-autumn nectar source: the white urn-shaped flowers are worked by honey bees and bumblebees when little else is in bloom, and a single plant sets fruit on its own.

Plants don't grow alone

Nectar forage

Bee

European honeybee (Apis mellifera)

Honey bees work the urn-shaped autumn flowers for nectar at a time when few other plants are in bloom, making arbutus a valued late-season bee plant.

Nectar forage

Fly

Hover flies (flower flies) (Syrphidae)

Hoverflies plausibly visit the late-autumn flowers for nectar alongside the bees.

Pollen forage

Bee

Mining bees (Andrena spp.)

Solitary bees plausibly forage pollen from the open clusters of urn-shaped flowers.

For people

Edible

The red strawberry-like fruit is edible but bland and mealy eaten fresh — its name unedo, 'I eat one', is a fair warning. It is best used cooked, for jams, preserves, and liqueurs.

Climate notes

•

USDA hardiness zones 7a-10b; native to the Mediterranean region and, unusually, western Ireland (POWO, Kew).

•

RHS gives Arbutus unedo the Award of Garden Merit and rates it hardy in most of the UK only in mild areas (H4) — so it is not for hard-winter gardens (RHS).

•

Drought- and lime-tolerant once established, and happy in heat and full sun — a genuinely tough Mediterranean evergreen for dry, free-draining sites.

•

The honest siting note is cold and drainage: it is only moderately cold-hardy (roughly zone 7 and warmer) and dislikes waterlogging, so give it a warm, sheltered, well-drained spot and skip it in cold or wet ground.

In the designer

Growth over time

77-144" tall · 77-144" spread

Maturing toward a small multi-stemmed tree showing off the peeling red-brown bark; full size at 8-15 feet.

Design roles: Structure · Focal point · Pollinator · Border

Seasonal interest

Spring

Summer

Fall

Winter

Filled = the plant has seasonal interest · ▾ now = your current season

Strawberry tree

At a glance

Why it matters

Cold hardiness

Heat tolerance

Where this plant fits

What it needs

Lifecycle

Pollination

Plants don't grow alone

For people

Climate notes

In the designer

Seasonal interest

Sources & citations