Pamela Anderson lets her Vancouver Island garden grow wild: The unexpected fruit she mistook for tomatillos sparked her latest beauty idea |
Imagine walking through your garden and finding tiny golden fruits hiding inside papery husks. You assume they are one thing, take a bite, and discover an entirely different flavour. For most people, it might be a curious gardening moment. For Pamela Anderson, it became the starting point for a new beauty idea.The actor recently discovered groundcherries growing wild in her Vancouver Island garden. She initially mistook them for tomatillos, but their citrusy, earthy flavour caught her attention. Soon, the little fruits had inspired her latest lip-care creation.“I’ve been obsessed with them ever since,” Anderson told People.It is an unexpectedly charming story about how inspiration can grow when a garden is allowed to surprise you.
A garden that refuses to stay within the lines
Anderson’s seven-acre property in Ladysmith, British Columbia, is far removed from the manicured celebrity gardens one might imagine. Her approach is romantic, relaxed and deliberately a little untamed.In an interview with Homes & Gardens, she explained that she likes mixing wildflowers, herbs and vegetables rather than arranging everything in neat rows.“You never leave the garden without inspiration for something,” she told the publication.The magazine reported that Anderson had initially mistaken the groundcherries for tomatillos. Their unexpected flavour left her fascinated, and she began thinking about how the discovery could inspire her next lip balm.“I didn’t know what they were. I thought they were tomatillo tomatoes,” she told Homes & Gardens. “So when I bit into one, I did not expect the flavor. They’re kind of citrusy, but earthy. I became obsessed with them.”
What makes groundcherries so unusual?
Groundcherries belong to the Physalis genus and are relatives of tomatoes and tomatillos. Their small, round fruits grow inside delicate, lantern-like husks. Depending on the variety, ripe fruits can taste sweet, tangy or faintly tropical.The University of Minnesota Extension explains that the papery husks dry as the fruits ripen, with groundcherries often ready to harvest when they begin falling from the plant.Their unusual appearance makes them easy to overlook, especially in a garden where plants are allowed to spread naturally. Anderson’s discovery is a reminder that a garden can offer more than flowers or familiar vegetables. Sometimes, the most interesting find is something you did not know was growing there.
Why Anderson prefers a little wildness
Her gardening philosophy has developed alongside a broader personal reset. In a 2025 interview with Architectural Digest, Anderson described how returning to her family property and building a garden helped her reconnect with herself. She also called gardening a metaphor for rebuilding life, one season at a time.Anderson’s approach also offers a useful lesson for home gardeners: not every corner needs to be perfectly controlled. Mixing flowers, herbs and vegetables can make a garden feel more personal, while leaving room to experiment with plants you might not otherwise grow.Just remember that wild plants should be identified correctly before eating them; some related species and unripe fruits can be unsafe.For Anderson, a tiny fruit hidden in a papery shell has now sparked a beauty idea. For the rest of us, it is a reason to look more closely at what is growing just beyond the garden path.
