Doing this because there is very little info about this species and North American perennial Physalis in general online.
Last year I decided to order seeds from the only seller in the EU that was selling perennial (North American) Physalis seeds to attempt crosses with other species.
I sowed some of the seeds under a grow light in Autumn(after leaving outside in november/ december for a few weeks) in parallel with Tomatillo seeds. Two seeds germinated but they didn’t grow well at all. They stayed small and were very stressed(even though the amount of light they got was good; Tomatillos grew very well in contrast) until April when I started moving them outside in the greenhouse when it was sunny.
Second batch I left outside in winter until February when I moved the pots under the grow light. It took some time but lots of seeds germinated. They grew well(because they would stay outside with high greenhouse temperatures and direct sun most days)
Above picture is from April 30
In total I kept 8 plants(including the 2 from the first batch which had recovered). I moved them in a raised bed in mid May. Once the temperatures got higher at the end of May they took off in growth and started flowering
6th of June
Even though there were lots of flowers in June and beginning of July none set fruit(except the ones I cross pollinated with Tomatillo pollen) which means that they are self incompatible.
In July however, bumblebees discovered the flowers(yes it took over a month for this to happen) and now I have hundreds of fruits forming
base of a plant
I anyone sees this and wants to grow perennial Physalis I recommend direct sowing in autumn so the plants can take advantage of full sun and high temperatures when they germinate next spring/summer(although you might not get ripe fruits the same year if you live in a climate with short/ cold summers)
If you really want to make sure that you get fruits the same year and you live in a short season, cold summer climate you can sow in a pot in autumn, leave outside over winter, and move inside in march/ april and leave by a sunny window and move outside on warm, sunny days.
use nutrient rich soil because this is a weedy species that will thrive in this kind of soil and of course grow more than one plant because they are self incompatible.
They are very drought tolerant and(in my climate) don’t need any watering.