In autumn, flowering and fruiting overlaps on Arbutus unedo, an evergreen tree or, in the selection 'Compactum,' a large shrub. Just as clusters of white flowers open, the globose, bumpy fruit begins to turn bright red. The strawberry tree, native to the Mediterranean region and the southwest of Ireland (where it's known possessively as the Killarney strawberry tree), makes a fine specimen in Pacific Northwest gardens. When limbed up, its cinnamon-colored bark shows off. It also works well as part of a mixed hedge of deciduous and evergreen plants. Arbutus unedo grows to about 25 feet high and wide -- 15 feet in the smaller-growing cultivar -- and will tolerate full sun to part shade, although it flowers and fruits best in full sun. Once established, it needs no summer water. Arbutus unedo was a 2004 Great Plant Pick (greatplantpicks.org).

-- Marty Wingate