Strawberry Varieties & How to Grow Them

Strawberries at Longfellow’s

Grow your own berries this season and for years to come. Growing strawberries is a tasty and rewarding garden treat that everyone will enjoy! Here are the different types of strawberry plants you’ll find at Longfellow’s.

June Bearing – produces one heavy crop next year, late June until mid-July. Best choice for canning or freezing. Pick flowers off the first year and allow to bloom and fruit the next year. These strawberries produce well for up to three years if the bed is kept weed free and is
properly renewed every year.

Everbearing – Best choice for smaller pickings weekly, summer through fall. Not a good choice for canning or freezing. Best type for containers or raised bed plantings. These strawberries are generally grown as an annual and replanted every year.

Varieties Available at Longfellow’s:

June Bearing Varieties:
• Allstar – Very large, sweet, mild flavor. Glossy, firm fruit is great for fresh eating or freezing. A good all-around, reliable producer. Highly resistant to red steele and tolerant of wilt.
• Honeoye – Consistently bears heavy yields of large, beautiful, crimson fruit.
Rich color carries over into jam and wine. Disease resistant and easy to grow.

Everbearing Varieties:
• Albion – Large, firm, very sweet fruit that is bright red and disease resistant. A delicious desert fruit, but versatile enough to be used for jam, baking, as a garnish or just eating right off the plant. A high yielding fruit that tolerates heat very well.
• Eversweet – Perfect for patio gardens. This everbearing plant produces sweet, long, cone-shaped strawberries. It will continue producing, even when temperatures exceed 80°F. Ripens in summer and continues to fruit into fall.
• Ozark Beauty – Plant in the spring and you will have strawberries by summer. This variety loves to spread and will easily flourish in an open space. It grows just as well in a container or basket. Produces heavy yields of large, juicy berries, red all the way through.
• Seascape – High-yielding and good strawberry for any garden soil. Seascape is a new Day-Neutral strawberry. The hard-working plants produce sweet, large, juicy berries. It will start fruiting about 3 months after planting. Heat tolerant and remarkable disease resistant.

Strawberry Culture:

• Location – Plant in a sunny spot with well-drained soil with plenty of organic matter. Avoid soils where potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants or raspberries have been grown within the last few years.
• Depth – Plant so the crown is just above the soil lever.
• Spacing – Space plants 18″ apart in rows 3 to 4 feet apart.
• Watering – Make sure to provide the equivalent of one inch of water weekly, either by irrigation or rainfall.
• Fertilize – You will want to fertilize strawberry plants soon after planting and again mid-summer.
• Winter Care – Mulch with 2 to 3 inches of good straw or pine needles in late fall, pull mulch off into the aisles in April.