Strawberry plant
Strawberry plant: Sowing, planting and harvest calendar
The strawberry plant is a perennial valued for fragrant, juicy fruit, often sweet with a touch of acidity. It belongs to the Rosaceae family, alongside apples and raspberries. Most large garden strawberries come from the hybrid Fragaria × ananassa. The woodland strawberry, Fragaria vesca, is a different species, usually associated with smaller fruit. These distinctions describe the plants themselves rather than simply different sizes of the same strawberry.
The plant forms a low clump around a short stem known as the crown. Its leaves usually consist of three toothed leaflets carried on fairly long stalks. Many varieties also produce runners: long horizontal stems bearing young plants that can develop their own roots. This is vegetative multiplication, distinct from reproduction through seeds. The number of runners differs between strawberry types, so not every plant has the same spreading habit.
Flowers are generally white, although some forms have pink flowers. Insects contribute to pollination. The fleshy part you call a strawberry is the flower’s receptacle, which has expanded. The small dots on its surface are the true botanical fruits, called achenes, each containing a seed. This structure means that a strawberry is not a berry in the botanical sense, despite its familiar name.
Summer-fruiting varieties produce a concentrated crop over a relatively short period. Everbearing varieties can fruit repeatedly or over a longer season, depending on the variety and conditions. Charlotte, Gariguette, Mara des Bois, Mariguette and Madame Moutot illustrate the diversity of garden strawberries. The name Mara des Bois does not make that variety a wild strawberry. Shape, size, firmness and the balance of sweetness, acidity and fragrance differ between selections.
Most strawberries are red when ripe, but white- and yellow-fruited forms also exist. Colour and size alone therefore do not describe how a strawberry tastes. Fragrance, flesh texture and variety also contribute to its character. A large strawberry is not automatically sweeter or more aromatic than a small one.
In the kitchen, strawberries feature in fruit salads, pastries, dairy desserts and dishes with chocolate. They also appear in sauces and preserves. The plant combines food interest with a modest presence in the garden. Its low outline suits borders and containers, where flowers and fruit sit close to the leafy clump.
Strawberry plant
- Type : Fruit trees
- Botanical Family : Rosaceae
Characteristics
- Lifecycle : Perennial
- Exposure : Full Sun
- Frost Hardiness : Frost Resistant
- Cultivation Difficulty : Easy
- Mature height : 25 cm
Sowing & Planting
- Greenhouse crops : Unheated greenhouse
- Greenhouse Growing : Not Required
- Plant Spacing : 40 cm
- Row Spacing : 40 cm
Maintenance
- Maintenance : Moderate
- Water Requirements : Moderate
Other characteristics
- Soil Type : Humus-rich
- Soil pH Preference : Acidic
- Pest Sensitivity : Moderate
- Disease Sensitivity : Moderate
- Weed Sensitivity : Moderate
- Pollination : Insect-pollinated
- Propagation : Division