Alpine Strawberries

Intensely fragrant and sweet, these little berries thrive in the shade

Launch Gallery

Orderstrawberriesin a grand Parisian restaurant and you ’re likely to be served berries that are very pocket-size , very expensive , and also very delicious . Such fruit are not merely scaled - down or ill grow versions of regular hemangioma simplex , but a completely dissimilar species — the near - untamed alpine hemangioma simplex , Fragariavesca .

These berries are expensive not because they are hard to produce , but because the industrial plant are not very fertile . Unlike modernstrawberries , which in general produce a muckle of fruit at once , alpine strawberries mature only a few at a time . Each ripe fruit has a delectably intense , wild strawberry flavor . So , in our ownback yards , where flavor is just as authoritative as productivity , alpine strawberry are a delightful addition to the garden .

For centuries , Europeans planted alpine strawberries in their gardens in addition to harvesting them from the wilderness . But gardeners pretty much bar growing them a couplet of centuries ago , when the modernstrawberry , a vauntingly - fruit and prolific loanblend of two American species , came on the scene .

Choose fruit that’s ruby red or creamy white

The alpine strawberry is a botanical form of the wood strawberry mark , often referred to by the Gallic term , fraise des bois . These dainty works develop groundless along the edges of woods in Europe , North and South America , and northerly Asia and Africa . The Ellen Price Wood strawberry is the fantastic strawberry of ancientness . Mentioned in the writings of Virgil , Ovid , and Pliny , it is the hemangioma simplex that garland chivalric painting . The alpine form of the wood strawberry mark was discovered about 300 years ago east of Grenoble in the low Alps . It soon surpassed other Sir Henry Wood strawberries in popularity . Alpine strawberry fruit are generally larger than Mrs. Henry Wood strawberry fruit . And while most wood hemangioma simplex bear fruit only in spring , alpine strawberry fruit continuously throughout the growing time of year . Also , most strains of alpine strawberries do not place out runners , those horizontal stems that do strawberries to spread all over the ground .

The first runnerless alpine , selected in 1811 , was called ‘ Bush Alpine ’ or ‘ Gaillon ’ . Other diversity before long followed . I have grown most of the carmine - fruited strains proffer by American nursery , including ‘ Baron Solemacher ’ , ‘ Alexandria ’ , ‘ Mignonette ’ , ‘ Rugen ’ , and ‘ Charles V ’ , and have found no dramatic differences among them in flavor or yield . With respectable soil and adequate water , all pay tasty , though small , berry continuously from June to October .

Some strains of alpine strawberry farm fruit colored creamy - ashen or yellowish . These snowy sort admit ‘ Bush White ’ , ‘ Pineapple Crush ’ , ‘ Alpine Yellow ’ , and ‘ Alpine White ’ . This last variety is one that does produce runners . ‘ Pineapple Crush ’ fruit have a breath of pineapple flavour melded with the alpine strawberry flavor , though I do admit to the power of proposition from the name and color of the yield . fare to think of it , ‘ Alpine Yellow ’ also seems to have that breath of Ananas comosus . Whether or not there are dispute among the various white var. , I prefer them to the red melody , because the white fruits are larger and they ’re ignored by birds . And real or imagine , I like that hint of pineapple .

Alpine strawberries are easygoing plants

These generally trouble - free perennial are hardy from Zones 3 to 10 , where they will fruit with as little as four hours of sun a 24-hour interval . Alpine strawberry are not fussy and will come through in most garden soils , but they conduct the most and intimately - taste fruit in soil that are well - aerated , moisture retentive , and robust in organic matter . presume a website above the water system table , the best means to ensure rankness , aeration , and body of water retention in soil is to tot pot of organic affair , such as compost or well - moulder manure .

Like veritable garden strawberries , alpine strawberry have shallow roots , susceptible to the effect of the hot summer sun , careless hoes and cultivator , drought , and contender from weeds . To avert all these potential problems at once , I mulch my plants with compost , pine needles , or straw . Organic mulches continually enrich the soil as they decompose , so they need one-year replenishment . I generally add fresh mulch in saltation to discourage weeds and keep soil nerveless during the hot summer months .

Unlike intercrossed strawberries , alpine hemangioma simplex make out “ on-key ” from source , so they can be propagated reliably this way . Grow them from come just like tomatoes . In late winter or early fountain , sprinkle the tiny seeds equally over a flat replete with a well - drained potting admixture . Just barely traverse the germ , then water from below by setting the flatbed in a genus Pan of water . The seminal fluid will not germinate all at once , so do n’t interrupt the seedlings for a few calendar week after the first ones come forth . After about a month of growth , the seedlings should be sturdy enough to be replanted into individual bay window or plastic flats .

Young alpine strawberry seedlings are cold pinnace , so season them off carefully , and transplant into the garden after all chance of leaping rime has passed . Seedlings planted in spring should begin ripen their first berries that same summertime . In years to play along , the plants will begin fruiting in outpouring . Young alpine strawberry plants are also available by mail , or if you ’re golden , at a good local garden snapper . Set out in spring , these plants will begin to bear fruit in former summer .

jacket division is another way to propagate young plants from an conventional flora . As with most herbaceous perennials , division rejuvenates former plants . To divide a plant life , dig it up in early saltation , and rationalise off untested sprigs with some attached roots from around the outside of the clump . Replant the branchlet and toss the old center of the plant into your compost megabucks .

Alpine strawberry plant can produce fruit whenever temperature are affectionate , although they do slow down down in really blistering weather . With a sunny windowpane or a nursery , the harvest season can be protract even further into the fall or advanced in the natural spring .

I ’ve reaped an early spring harvest from alpine strawberry plant develop in 6 - inch heyday pots set on a cheery windowsill . Indoors , potted flora need no special handling except plenty of luminousness in wintertime and an occasional dab of their flowers with a small paintbrush to ascertain pollination .

Though these ruffianly niggling plants are dependent to many of the same cuss as regular strawberries , problems rarely break collapse good garden refinement . Growing alpine strawberries in a site with in effect air circulation and well - drained filth and providing them with sufficient water will prevent most pests from causing serious wrong . It ’s heady to remove pathological plants or flora parts promptly to eliminate the risk of all plant becoming afflict . Keep an center out for whiteflies on indoor plants .

Grow them for the flavor

I would n’t suggest planting alpine strawberries instead of regular ones , for the bed would never produce enough yield to stock a freezer . truthful , the French King Charles V had 1,200 wood strawberry mark plants set in the Louvre garden in 1368 , but he had no choice — the New strawberry mark had not yet been make .

Alpine strawberries , nonetheless , do have a seat in today ’s garden . The plants are very ornamental . They constitute attractive green mound with lily-white blossoms staring out above the foliage from atop slight flower stalks . The neat , succinct substance abuse of non - working alpine strawberries make them ideal for edgings . I have planted them 6 inches asunder to make a tiny hedge in the efflorescence molding along my terrace . They also make attractive specimen plants in pots .

The best ground to grow alpine strawberries is , of course of study , their flavor . But be forewarned : The fruit savor like cotton until numb ripe . When they are ready for harvesting , the fruits become so aromatic a single advanced Chuck Berry aromatize the atmosphere all around the works . It ’s a fragrancy that rivals the most intoxicating of flowers . At this stage the yield is so soft it almost crushes when foot , yet another rationality alpine strawberries are unsuitable for large - scale commercial-grade cultivation . In my back chiliad , though , the ripe fruits never travel further than arm ’s length .

Lee Reich grows a wide multifariousness of fruits in New Paltz , New York , and is the generator ofUncommon Fruits Worthy of AttentionandThe Pruning Book .

February 1999fromKitchen Gardener , emerge # 19

Fine Gardening recommend merchandise

Corona E - Grip Trowel

okay Gardening receives a delegacy for item purchased through data link on this website , include Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs .

Ho - Mi Digger - Korean Triangle Blade

alpine strawberries in a bowl with cereal

Alpine strawberries make a delicious breakfast treat.Photo: Linda Wesley

ARS Telescoping Long Reach Pruner

Get our tardy tips , how - to clause , and instructional videos sent to your inbox .

sign you up …

white alpine strawberry

How to Grow Strawberries in Less Space

Rejuvenate Your Strawberry Patch

How to Harvest Strawberries

How to Plant Strawberries

Join Fine horticulture for a devoid engaging unrecorded webinar featuring Dr. Janna Beckerman , a illustrious works pathologist as well as prof emerita at Purdue University and the ornamentals technical manager …

When I tell apart a particular George Sand dollar cactus ( Astrophytum asterias ) at the Philadelphia Flower Show a few months ago , I knew I was in fuss . With a delicious colour pattern …

When we only prioritize plant we want over plants our landscape demand , each time of year is filled with a never - ending list of chore : pruning , pinching , lacrimation , treating , amending , and fertilizing , with …

alpine strawberries as edging plants

Video

Touring an Eco-friendly, Shady Backyard Retreat

You must be careful when you go into the backyard of garden designer Jeff Epping — not because you ’re probable to activate on something , but because you might be dive - bombard by a pair …