Strawberry Species / Hybrids

[Johann Kuntz]

This year I had the amazing luck of finding Fragaria vesca subsp. bracteata forma helleri which is a rare form of the woodland strawberry with a pale pink color to the flower petals.

Unfortunately this clone ended up only showing the pink tone on petals when they become well aged (as long as they aren't knocked off by rain). 

On a different note, I have a seedling from of a consistently runnerless alpine strain that is producing micro-runners.  The parent form never produces any runners and comes true from seed generation after generation.  This anomalous seedling is making stolons that are varying between 0.75-2.5" long on a mature flowering size plant.  I can't find any info about what gene might control this trait, but it could be useful in breeding if it can be passed along.  Have any of you ever heard of strawberries with micro-runners like this? 

[Steph S]

It looks like almost the entire feral strawberry population was wiped out by our winter of snow-rain-deepfreeze-repeat.   There were lots of strawberry flowers in the paths this spring, but they were from wild ones.  I guess this wild type is able to endure even those worst of climate extremes.   Feral plants that were growing around the raised beds didn't make it.   I have not found a single strawberry-shaped strawberry this season.   Granted that few plants even survived, it also wasn't a good year for them with persistent dry weather while they could've been growing fruit.  The wild ones are at their smallest as well, but yesterday I found several intermediate sized and round shaped berries which might be crosses that were hardy.   They were delicious so I hope these plants have a safe time of it for next season.   

[AndrewB]

My wild strawberry collected from the mountains did not survive the winter, though neither did my domestic ones (with red / pink flowers). Did not have them in a deep pot and did not keep them in the garage for the winter. Will need to improve my growing skills for strawberries.

There is a thread on the Growing Fruit Forum where there is discussion of a true strawberry x raspberry hybrid. I believe a diploid wild strawberry was used. Apparently, the guy on the forum has a blog and is growing them, so they are not some mystical cross in an obscure paper.

I am interested in Fragaria moschata - Musk Strawberry if anyone has any experience with it. It sounds like a very gourmet strawberry which sounds wonderful.

[Jeremy Weiss]

On the subject of strawberries, I was wondering if anyone out there could help me with something.

I am looking for seeds/plants (preferably within the US so I can actually get them without customs trouble) for a strain of Fragaria viridis whose fruit do NOT turn red at maturity; the kind that stay green. (After many years of experimentation in my garden, I have come to the conclusion that, if I plant red strawberries, or strawberries that have any red/pink in them, the birds will devour them all before I can. However if I plant NON-red strawberries (say, white or yellow or, I hope green) the birds ignore them, as they are not used to ripe strawberries not being red.)

[Johann Kuntz]

I am interested in Fragaria moschata - Musk Strawberry if anyone has any experience with it. It sounds like a very gourmet strawberry which sounds wonderful.

F. moschata is indeed wonderful.  It is an EXCELLENT groundcover plant and showy when in bloom due to its tall stems.  The fruit is VERY good with a more tropical-esque flavor than a typical strawberry.  I lose very few of its fruits to slug damage because they are held well off the ground.

[Garrett Schantz]

On the subject of strawberries, I was wondering if anyone out there could help me with something.

I am looking for seeds/plants (preferably within the US so I can actually get them without customs trouble) for a strain of Fragaria viridis whose fruit do NOT turn red at maturity; the kind that stay green.

The green coloration may or may not effect the taste of the strawberries as I believe the skins colorations also represent a flavour / chemical.

If it's green on the inside that could be worse.


I took a bunch of strawberry runners with me.


My only peeve with F. moschata is that it seems to have an even shorter shelf life than other species do before going bad.

I used them as snacks around the garden.

[UnicornEmily]

However if I plant NON-red strawberries (say, white or yellow or, I hope green) the birds ignore them, as they are not used to ripe strawberries not being red.)

Do you have white strawberry seeds?  I ask because I have some, and I could send you a few if you'd like them.

[Jeremy Weiss]

Do you have white strawberry seeds?  I ask because I have some, and I could send you a few if you'd like them.

Thanks, but I'm good for next year. My Alpine Whites DID eventually die out due to an unusually cold winter, but I have have gotten other seed since then. Next year I'm trying out Buttercream (which seems to be the only NON-alpine pure white strawberry).

[UnicornEmily]

Interesting!  I hadn't heard of that variety before.  I hope it works well for you.

[Jeremy Weiss]

Not surprised, it looks like the site I got them from is the only one offering them (and they are fairly pricey for strawberry seeds).

Part of the problem is that they have to be PURE white (or yellow). If there is ANY pink, the birds catch on. So that lets out the Japanese variety called White Rabbit (since it develops a pink blush) and the Pineberry (since, while the berry is white, the "seeds" (actually achenes) are red. That's part of why I was looking for the green ones, I'm guessing the birds won't be able to work those out either.

[UnicornEmily]

Ahhh, I wondered about whether pineberries would work!  Wow, devious birds.

[Steph S]

Just revisiting this thread to refresh my memory about the different kinds of strawberries..
Late last summer I picked up a couple of pots of everbearing strawberries from a nursery.  One got planted in the ground here and produced some really delicious fruit right up until frost.  The others came indoors and got potted up and I hand pollinated with a paintbrush to get about 20 fruit on one plant.  The second plant only produced 4 fruit but made a couple of runners.  So I now have one of them under lights potted up and it is starting to set fruit. 
Meanwhile this got me interested in making more strawberries, so I bought seeds of three alpine or everbearing types (one is an F1), seller sent me a fourth as a bonus, and then got a fifth variety from our yearly swap.   The upshot I have 77 tiny plants already potted up and another batch to go.
Fragaria vesca:  I have Baron Solemaher, Regina, Reugen and one called 'Renaissance' which according to the seller is a Ukrainian heirloom everbearing/alpine.  The leaf type appears the same as the alpines so it does seem to be vesca.  The F1 Lizonka is looking to have a different leaf pattern.
Shaping up to be a strawberry filled year for me, and a chance to compare these different types.
Just editing to add: it appears that the Lizonka F1 is pink flowered!  Great deal for the seeds iirc 2.99 on amazon.  I got about 50% germination.
I wonder what are the chances of backcrossing this to an alpine to stabilize the pink flower?

I did notice that West Coast Seeds is offering seeds of several hybrid strawberries with pink flowers: $16 for ten seeds!!   
Just wondering if anyone had something interesting come of their interspecies hybrid projects.