pendragon orchard and vine

For millennia, fragrance guided the design of gardens — from Persian courtyards to monastic cloisters. Today it’s often missing. In the Pacific Northwest, restoring scent means designing with intimacy, ecology, and time.

The strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo) is an ancient evergreen too often overlooked in the Pacific Northwest. While other trees retreat into winter, it carries blossoms and ripening fruit side by side, offering color, nectar, and sustenance when little else remains. Once woven into Roman myth and Mediterranean culture, today it survives mostly as an ornamental—yet its resilience, drought tolerance, and quiet gifts make it a tree worth reclaiming for our landscapes.