Sorry to be a complete novice here, but I have a bunch of Physalis plants of various sizes.

Does anyone know if they are supposed to be dormant through the winter then grow again in the spring, or are they going to fade rapidly once they fruit (I have a few small flowers), like the tomato plants they resemble?

They are all grown from a single fruit I had in my lunchbox this summer.

Thanks,

Richard

The cape gooseberry is an annual in temperate regions and a perennial in the tropics. In the Andean regions of South America it grows wild between 2,500 and 10,000 ft. The wild range in Hawaii is 1,000 to 8,000 ft. The plants are frost tender and are killed at temperatures of about 30° F. In much of California the cape gooseberry is best grown as an annual, but will persist for several years in frost-free areas of southern California. Some California growers have grown seedling materials under glass during the fall and winter and set out in early spring to gain the advantage of the longest possible growing season.The plants are easily grown in pots and adapt well to greenhouse culture.

Text above is from California Rare Fruit Growers
http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/cape-gooseberry.html

OK thanks for this information.

I will bring them indoors fairly soon then, although I doubt we'll see any frost here before late December. Interestingly though, the largest ones have flowered in the last two weeks, I don't know if they'll fruit, will have to wait and see.

Richard

Checked the largest ones this morning and I have a single small fruit yay!!!!!

Richard