Ornamental Strawberry (Beach Strawberry, Fraise du Bois, Woodland Strawberry)
Fragaria species. ROSACEAE.
Planting and Growing Ornamental Strawberry
You’ll find everything you need to know to plant and grow ornamental strawberry in the accompanying table’s tabs:
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- Flowers, foliage, and root structure of ornamental strawberry
- Plant hardiness and growing conditions for ornamental strawberry
- Season of bloom and planting time for ornamental strawberry
- When, how deep, and where to plant ornamental strawberry
- How to plant ornamental strawberry
- Watering, fertilizing, care, and pests or diseases of ornamental strawberry
- Landscape and container uses of ornamental strawberry
- Comments about ornamental strawberry and its features
Growing Ornamental Strawberry
About 12 species of low, spreading, stoloniferous, evergreen perennial herbs, to 8 in. (20 cm) tall, 2 ft. (60 cm) wide. Leathery, deep green, oval, toothed leaves, to 5 in. (13 cm) wide, with 3-lobed leaflets, to 2 in. (50 mm) long, turning red in autumn.
Spread by wiry runners that develop rooting offset plants at intervals along the runners.
Indian mock strawberry, Duchesnea indica, with yellow flowers, is a distant relative with similar growth habit and landscape uses.
See also Berries, Strawberry, Fragaria species, numerous cultivars of closely related fruit-bearing plants with similar care needs.
Planting and Care Guide
Blooms
Many pink, red, white, 5-petaled flowers, to 1 in. (25 mm) wide, with yellow centers, in spring, form edible or inedible, pulpy, fruitlike pseudoberries covered with seedlike achenes, in summer.
Best Climates
Hardy. Zones 3–10.
Soil Type and Fertility
Moist, well-drained, sandy soil. Fertility: Rich–average. 6.0–8.0 pH.
Where and How to Plant
Early spring in full sun, 12–30 in. (30–75 cm) apart, depending on cultivar.
Proper Care
Moderate. Keep evenly moist. Fertilize at planting and monthly thereafter. Protect from frost. Propagate by division, offsets, runners, seed.
About This Plant
Good choice for accents, banks, ground covers, massed plantings in natural, wildlife, woodland gardens. Attracts birds, butterflies. Pest and disease resistant.