I am torn-please help to choose strawberry!

Discussion in 'Fruit and Vegetable Gardening' started by anituchka, Mar 7, 2008.

  1. anituchka

    anituchka Active Member

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    Location:
    Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada
    Hello,
    I have one bed where I want to plant strawberries. I cannot choose which one is better. Please help.

    I am thinking of buying either on dominionseed.com. I want something that will last for a whole season and I especially like alpine strawberries. Does somebody know which type I should choose??

    They have:

    AROMAS: Neutral day, trailing variety. Its big, very firm fruits will easily keep for many days without losing their excellent taste. Continuous production from June to October. Perfect for hanging baskets, flower boxes or in the garden.

    SPARKLE: Mid-season. The sweetest! Large berries are crimson right through the center.

    JEWEL: This is now the champion variety for the fresh market, used by all commercial producers. Mid-season, the sweet large glossy red fruits keep very well.

    MARA DES BOIS: An everbearing variety combining very good production with the extraordinary taste of wild strawberries.

    ROSALYNE: Variety, particularly ornamental with its very large pink flowers, but moreover producing plenty of the sweetest small fruits you ever tasted, from late May to fall frosts. May be planted in hanging baskets or containers as well as in the garden. Everbearing neutral day variety.

    MIGNONETTE' ALPINE STRAWBERRIES: Still hard to find, this treat originates from the European wild strawberry. Different from ours, it is runnerless and remarkably free from disease. "Mignonette" grows into a tidy, rounded, compact plant, perfect for edging a border, for the vegetable patch, for containers and hanging baskets.
     
  2. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    Try the ones with the big fruits - assuming they are all locally suitable. If these would be ones used in a different climate, they may not all do well where you are. Down here the state Cooperative Extension Service indicates which cultivars they think are good bets for our conditions, maybe your Province can help you also.
     
  3. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    I'm a big fan of the everbearing varieties; Mara des Bois sounds really tasty....

    Have you considered planting more than one variety in your bed?

    Also, for more choices (as though the ones you have aren't hard enough) check out McFayden online; they ship rhizome rather than seed, which makes for a faster spring start on the berries.
     
  4. Helen Leung

    Helen Leung Active Member 10 Years

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    I just went to Garden Works on Monday and picked up 10 plants for $5.00. Got Fort Lanimire? It's supposed to be ever-bearing and it was one of the variety recommended by Brian Winters. Hope that helps. I would buy from a local garden store too if I can help it.
     
  5. biggam

    biggam Active Member

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    Location:
    Michigan, USA
    I met a grower from Alberta who grows mostly 'Kent'; I am told it is similar to 'Jewel', but juicier. An everbearing variety people are growing more and more is 'Seascape'; this has good flavor and will bear fruit through summer into fall. I am not familiar with alpine strawberries.

    Here is a Canadian source for varieties mentioned: http://www.saskatoonfarm.com/catalogue2.htm
     
    Last edited: Mar 31, 2008
  6. northerngrapes

    northerngrapes Active Member

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    There are a lot of great strawberries you can grow in your climate Totem and Ranier
    are grown there commercially

    Heres a website for you check out

    http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/berries/production_guide_pdf/strawberry_variety_newplant.pdf

    The alpine strawberries are nice, small fruit, but very tasty. You can purchase seeds.

    Personally the varieties that you can grow there are wonderful just check out to see
    what is available from your local garden centre

    Cheers
     

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