Individually wrapped, pop-in-your-mouth, scrumpticious spheres of sweetness that taste like a complex combination of creamy strawberry with a distinct pineapple finish. I know this sounds like hype but I've watched people's faces when they taste a Ground Cherry for the first time - pure heaven!
Super easy to grow, they require very little attention, once established. Throw them in a part of your garden or landscape and forget them until the end of summer.
As fruits mature, their husks form a papery 'envelope' around each of the fruits which eventually drop to the ground, signally they are fully ripe*.
Plants average around 2.5 - 3 ft tall and equally as round, so provide ample spacing. They are very, very productive and self-pollinating! As long as the paper husks remain intact, they will store for at least a month - becoming even more sweet with age!
* IMPORTANT: ALLOW FRUITS TO DROP NATURALLY TO THE GROUND BEFORE EATING. Ground Cherries are a member of the potato family and just like you don't eat the green part of potatoes (a glycoalkoloid compound called solanine), you should not eat Ground Cherries unless they have fully ripened (this is when they fall off the plant). Unripe fruits will taste bitter and can be harmful if eaten in large quantities.
Sold in a 2.5" pot.