Strawberry Plants

Succulent Strawberry Plants For Sale At Nature Hills!

Strawberry plants were mentioned in Roman writings as far back as 200 BC! Wild Strawberries are native groundcover plants that can be found throughout most of the world and patches of the sweetest fruit are closely guarded by foragers!

The French led the way in Strawberry production after a French explorer brought the Strawberry back to France from Quebec. The first breeding crosses made to improve the Strawberry began in the 1800s.

Adaptable to a wide range of Hardiness Zones and growing conditions, Strawberries are native to both the northern and southern hemispheres and can be grown in every state in the US.

Strawberries are visually stunning and they are produced in a variety of sizes, colors, flavors, and shapes. The typical Strawberries grown in fruit and vegetable gardens today belong to the genus Fragaria.

The pleated and toothy leaves are super ornamental on their own as they form rosettes that become full of cheerful white blossoms with a fringe of pointed sepals accenting them! These sepals become the leafy crown for each juicy berry! Pollinators adore these lovely blooms and help produce the big red "false fruit" known as a pseudocarp.

The fat, sweet, and juicy fruit covered in their edible seeds form soon after! Followed by runners that root as they travel, colonizing areas and forming little rosettes of their own. The leaves, flowers, and shiny fruit make these plants great at expanding your enjoyment of these plants, and as ornamentals or lawn replacements!

The Strawberry is very low in saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium! They are a good source of folate, potassium, dietary fiber, vitamin C, and manganese. Because Strawberries are universally loved for their taste, they are one of the major ingredients in a number of foods including ice cream, pies, yogurts, breakfast cereals, and of course, eaten fresh!

Types of Strawberry Plants

There are many types of Strawberries you can choose to plant in your garden!

• The most common are June-bearing or Spring-bearing plants have one large crop.
• The Everbearing produces fruits in the spring or summer, and again in fall!
• The Day-neutral Strawberry that produces all growing season.

Some of Nature Hills favorites include:

• Sparkle Strawberry Plant - A June-bearing Strawberry
• Eversweet Strawberry Plant - An Everbearing variety
• Albion Strawberry Plant - A day-neutral variety
• Berried Treasure® Red Strawberry - A red-flowering container Strawberry
• White Carolina Strawberry - A pineapple-flavored Pineberry with white flesh & red seeds

Caring For Strawberry Plants

Cold-hardy and even heat-tolerant, Strawberries are wonderfully easy to grow in both small spaces or in large swaths! The most important consideration for planting perennial Strawberries is choosing the site carefully.

The site must have excellent drainage, be enriched, and be planted in full sun. The soil pH should be between 5.5 and 6.5 for best results.

Planting Strawberries

Whether used as edging, lawn replacement, or in large planters or Strawberry pots, Strawberries are fast and easy to grow!

1. The soils should be tilled to a depth of 12 inches and good amounts of compost or well-cured manure should be incorporated in the soil.
2. Lay the bareroot crowns with the roots spread out in a trench and covered in soil, just barely keeping the crown at the soil level.
3. Water in well and mulch with straw or arborist bark chips.
4. Secure runners in place or replant them elsewhere.
5. Fertilize or spread compost over the site each spring.

Harvest by snipping the stems just above the berry and avoid tugging them free - which can occasionally pull on the roots of the plant or damage the crowns.

Keep your Strawberry patch well-watered all growing season to keep the fruit as juicy and the plant as stress-free as possible!

In the fall, trim back the dying foliage that exhibited fungal or disease issues and clean up all left-over fruit. Cover the crowns with a layer of mulch, straw, or hay for the winter to insulate the crowns.

Pretty & Tasty Garden Gems

Healthy and tasty red jewels for your summer garden, the pretty and easy-to-grow Strawberry plant will be your favorite fruiting garden addition!