Growing strawberries in the home garden, Choosing strawberry plants

Source: University of Minnesota Ext.

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Choosing strawberry plants

Many strawberry varieties are available and can be grown with ease in home gardens. Some taste better than others. Some are more winter hardy than others. Some ripen in one small window in June, while others produce fruit throughout the growing season.

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These varieties were chosen mainly for flavor and, when mulched, they are winter hardy in USDA Zone 4.

USDA Zone 3 is much colder and plants need additional cover to survive temperature extremes without snow cover.

Although most garden centers sell strawberry plants in spring, many of the varieties listed here are commonly available only from mail-order sources. You can find nurseries online that carry the ones you'd like to plant.

Strawberries hardy in zones 3-4

Variety	Type	Hardiness (zone 4 to zone 3)	Description
Annapolis	June-bearing	Good to poor	Vigorous plants produce medium-large fruit with mild, sweet flavor. Produces many runners.
Earliglow	June-bearing	Fair to poor	Firm, glossy fruit with classic strawberry flavor. Some disease resistance. Vigorous. Great variety for beginners.
Jewel	June-bearing	Good to poor	Firm, glossy fruit with excellent flavor. Tolerates molds and rots. Heavy producer.
Honeoye	June-bearing	Excellent to very good	Very productive. Aromatic, large, glossy, crimson berries with excellent flavor. Disease resistant and easy to grow.
Cavendish	June-bearing	Excellent to very good	Ripens over a long season. Produces large berries with very good flavor. Prolific runners.
Ogallala	Ever-bearing	Excellent to very good	Vigorous plants produce soft, deep red, rich-flavored berries. Drought tolerant.
Seascape	Day neutral	Very good to poor	Productive from early summer through fall. Bright red berries inside and out. Disease resistant. Great for containers and garden beds.
Albion	Day neutral	Fair to poor	Medium, firm berries have excellent flavor. Produces consistently from June until frost. Great for containers or in the garden.
Alpine strawberry	Day neutral	Excellent to good	Not a variety but a different type/species of strawberry. Grows well in part shade. Does not produce runners, so plants remain small.

Planting and caring for young plants

Strawberries require sun to produce fruit. Ten or more hours of sunlight each day is ideal, but they need at least six hours of direct sunlight each day.

Before planting, take a soil test to find out if you need to add any nutrients to your soil.

Working some well-rotted compost into the soil is a good idea before planting. Compost helps add nutrients to the soil, improves drainage and increases microbial activity, which will benefit the plants.

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