Hello. I signed up specifically to ask this question, but I think I will enjoy being a member of this forum. Background: on 26 August, I visited the UBC Botanical Gardens. In the food garden section, I noticed some strawberry plants in a tall white plastic bucket. I was very interested, because some strawberries very similar, if not the same, grew from seed in my garden two or three summers ago. The plants have apple green leaves which look pleated and are strongly and evenly serrated around the edges. The fruits are a little larger than local [south Vancouver Island] wild strawberries and are white when they are ripe. I think the fruit tastes a little like bananas; certainly not like regular strawberries, but quite pleasant. The plants spread readily from runners and are attractive. The fruiting season in my garden started late but continued long. It took me a while to realize that the heavy scent of ripe berries came from the little white berries. I kept looking for bigger, red berries. I think the birds are fooled by the white berris, as well. The question: can anyone tell me the likely origin of these plants? I can not help because I do not know what cultivars of strawberries we have in our garden. Heather Phillips
I think the cultivar you'll want to look for is Fragaria vesca 'Fructu Albo' (or sometimes Fragaria vesca 'Alba'). Yes, almost all visitors as well. Occasionally (sadly), people decide to harvest the Food Garden instead of leaving the produce for our volunteers to collect for one of the local soup kitchens - but that particular plant is never touched.
