'New Zealand Perennial' Ground Cherry

Physalis spp.

Origin: Unknown via New Zealand

Improvement status: Unknown

Seeds per packet: ~25

Germination tested 11/25: 95%

Life cycle: Annual or Biennial

This is an improved strain of perennial ground cherry, the best of multiple annual and hardy perennial species trialed in Massachusetts by our seed source, author and farmer Eric Toensmeier. It has relatively large fruits with excellent flavor, ripening in late September or early October in Massachusetts, though they're also still perfectly ripe outdoors even by the end of December, long after the leaves have disappeared. The fruit keep well indoors too, and are much denser and less watery than annual ground cherry (though also not really in competition, as these ripen much later). The flavor is also much more intense too, with strong notes of pineapple, tomato and passionfruit. To clean the dried husk off the slightly sticky fruit, just wash in a sink and the paper comes right off. 

This variety was collected in New Zealand but the genus is not native there, so it must have been introduced at some point. The species is unknown at present. It is definitely not a P. peruviana, based on appearance and superior cold hardiness. It has deep suckering roots and somewhat sticky fruits like the eastern native P. heterophylla, which it closely resembles, but the plant doesn't look quite right. Fortunately we don’t have to know what species it is to grow and enjoy it!

GROWING TIPS: Start as you would tomatoes, surface-sowing seeds in flats a few weeks before last frost. Germination can be spotty with perennial ground cherries, and the seeds may benefit from a cold-moist stratification period (30-60 days). Prefers full sun, but the plants also produce surprisingly well in shade.