A couple of years ago I planted this little alpine strawberry along my stone walkway. It has little white flowers and small deep red strawberries all year. It doesn't send out runners and is slowly growing into a nice little clump. Its a nice care-free edging plant with the added benefit of sweet little berries to snack on.
alpine strawberries (Fraises des bois)
Will you send me some seeds?
ReplyDeleteI have a white Alpine strawberry, and I was planning to do a post about it too!
A few years ago I ordered seeds for both the red and white ones over the Internet, but only the seeds for the white plants germinated.
You can save seeds from it by putting 4-5 berries in a soup bowl half full of water. Gently squish the berries with your fingers, until they fall apart in the water. Alternate pouring off the extra water with adding a little more, until you have rinsed away as much of the remaining berries as possible while leaving the seeds on the bottom of the bowl. It's okay if a little pith is left over. Put the seeds on a coffee filter to dry.
If you try to grow them yourself, they will need cold treatment to germinate. An easy way to do this is put them in the freezer for a month or so.
I just wanted to post to say how much I have enjoyed reading your blog this year. We have dedicated some of our garden to vegetable growing this year and blogs like yours have really helped to show us what is possible in a small space.
ReplyDeleteSkippy is of course the star of the show!
I bet those strawberries taste great compared to the store bought varieties. I read in an old Smithsonian magazine that they were trying to bring back the musk strawberry, Fragaria moschata supposedly the most aromatic of all strawberries. They compared it favorably to the wild alpine strawberry but it is larger in size. Seems like a great plant to grow alongside your alpine strawberries.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.smithsonianmagazine.com/
issues/2006/july/strawberry.php
I waited to long to pick the nice red berries in the photo and the squirrel got them I guess. I will be quicker next time! I notice the original single little plant I had is now two good sized clumps.
ReplyDeletePatrick: I'm collecting some seeds now. If you send me your address to carletongardener@aol.com I'll mail you some seeds.
ReplyDeleteAre the berries from your plant white? Even after ripening?
Yes, the berries stay white after they are ripe, but taste like normal strawberries.
ReplyDeleteHere is a post about them:
http://www.root-cause.net/?p=10
Thanks for the seeds!
Alpine strawberries are my favorite type of berry. When they are truly ripe and not stressed, they have the most incredible flavor.
ReplyDeleteI've just gone through my second attempt at growing alpine whites from seeds. I'm getting discouraged because I don't want to have to resort to buying expensive plants but may have to do that. Just thought I'd put my experience with the strawberries out here. Enjoyed the blog.
ReplyDeleteTo continue with my previous email: So if anyone has plants I can purchase or more seeds, please let me know at schares90@yahoo.com, with subject line of alpine strawberries. Thanks.
ReplyDelete