I have in my notes a comment from a gardener in Fredericksburg, VA, that 'Compacta' fruited well that far north in the colder 1990s, and I've seen a couple in SE VA that were covered in fruits. But my 3' 'Elfin King' has been in the ground 3 full years now, has bloomed twice quite intensely and is vigorously growing 6" a year, apparently - no fertilizer needed. But it only has 3-4 fruits developing on a low, practically invisible branch.

If your 'Elfin King' are starting to fruit now maybe in future years you will see better production. In my part of USDA 8 there are some larger examples of strawberry tree but this is nevertheless one of those kinds that burns in the occasional colder-than-usual Arctic episode. The crappy springs and summers we have been having lately are being compared to those of the 1950's, during which there were also record-setting winters - if there is a repeat of those on the horizon we may see strawberry trees freeze to the ground. I should think that in USDA 7 you are skating the edge a bit with this plant.

JMO, but the fruit is by far not the only appeal of this plant. Broadleaved evergreen trees are not a dime a dozen regardless of location, it blooms in late fall to early winter when few other plants do and it has striking rough cinnamon colored bark. A four season plant in a suitable zone. Arbutus unedo 'Compacta' included in the PNW Great Plant Picks program.

I definitely agree. But the fruit, when heavily laden on plants, has a certain charm that is almost unique in the world of fruit/drupe/berries whatever.

Agree with you both perhaps cold is the factor at play here; it is on a sheltered south facing wall because I knew it was at the end of its tether here, so to speak. But it's never shown even a spot of foliar damage down to the upper single digits. But perhaps various clones have a better ability to withstand cold during freezes, just as is seen between various cultivars of Camellia. Certainly if someone was able to regularly get fruit in the 1990s, in Fredericksburg, I should be able to do so here, too, as my location has more coastal influence and has not had a freeze before Thanksgiving in 6 years. The fact it was only fruiting near the ground made me think either cold was a factor, or some insect only active near the ground was pollinating it. (I believe that even we a so-called self fertile species, some flower designs still require a pollinator to be present.)

I'll report in a couple years if things improve...at least it finally has some fruits. Without digressing too much, I'm a firm believer that some plants, under some circumstances, can undergo epigenetic adaptation. In fact w/o divulging yet, I've seen an extraordinary example of it and am looking for a plant psysiologist who studies such phenomena to share my findings. In any case, maybe as it matures a slight switch to its "antifreeze" formula for flowers (i.e., a turn-on of a genetic program left over from the ice age) will allow it to more easily mature fruit here.

What's really terrifying here is that the deer ticks seem to be the hardiest of insects; in only takes the briefest mild spell of two days of temps around 55F to activate them!

Now that I'm thinking about it, lack of pollinators could be a very good reason your tree is not producing much fruit. It is primarily pollinated by bees so late season flowering may go largely unnoticed. Bumble bees can be found here from time to time even in winter but are certainly not present in huge quantities. Fruiting is likely to be heaviest in those more Mediterranean climates that have year round pollinators present.

A party I talked to living on the outer WA coast claimed they rarely saw even 20 degrees F. In the wild strawberry tree is found in the Mediterranean and damp, balmy coastal Ireland, where it grows tall. The late bloom and overwintering of the developing fruits wouldn't be a problem because of the mild climate. Maybe in the non-Irish part of the habitat it is too hot and dry for flowering and fruit development during the growing season.

BBoy, my plant has had only slight leaf burn at 8F; I've seen a 'Compacta' that had only minor injury from 0F, but it had overstory protection from a southern magnolia and wind-sheltered spot. I fully expect some really bad winters to kill it, hopefully only to the ground.