Wild Strawberries!
- Thread starter Dahlia
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digitS'
Garden Master
Dahlia,
the alpine strawberries are blooming in my backyard lawn.
They are very tiny plants with yellow flowers.
the alpine strawberries are blooming in my backyard lawn.
They are very tiny plants with yellow flowers.
Pulsegleaner
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I hate to burst your bubble, but if the flowers are yellow, they are more likely to be Indian strawberries rather than alpine. And Indian strawberries are tasteless.
digitS'
Garden Master
I have never eaten them, @Pulsegleaner .
They are much too tiny to be worth the bother. It occurs to me to say that they might be smaller than lentils.
Those strawberries have been in the lawn for about 20 years and reflect my reluctance to use an herbicide.
They are much too tiny to be worth the bother. It occurs to me to say that they might be smaller than lentils.
Those strawberries have been in the lawn for about 20 years and reflect my reluctance to use an herbicide.
Pulsegleaner
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That certainly sounds like Indian strawberries (though I have seen them get bigger under good soil conditions). We're talking about a roughly spherical red fruit with red "seeds" that more or less sit on the surface (as opposed to being recessed, like on an eating strawberry).
I actually DID have some alpine strawberries growing, and growing very well for a while (In fact they were one of the few fruit I could plant that actually produced something I could eat).
I kept them in one of the big pots on the patio. And lucky for me, right under the strawberries a hive of sweat bees set up their hive (so I simultaneously had guaranteed pollinators and a defense system.)
The first couple of times, I basically lost the whole crop to birds (who are a bit too big to be deterred by the sweat bees). Then I learned the big secret, that the birds were homing in on the strawberries by SIGHT, as opposed to smell. So I started planting only WHITE or YELLOW fruited alpine strawberries, and it worked! With no red, the birds don't know the strawberries are ripe, and they left them alone, free for me to pick.) I imagine Pineberries might also work, since they are also white fruited (though they do have red seeds.......).
Alas, there came a truly bitter winter, and it froze the soil so deep that it killed the plants. So now I have no strawberries. Maybe I'll try again some time with another type (I am intrigued by what I have heard about some strains of Fragaria viridis from Europe producing GREEN fruit......)
I actually DID have some alpine strawberries growing, and growing very well for a while (In fact they were one of the few fruit I could plant that actually produced something I could eat).
I kept them in one of the big pots on the patio. And lucky for me, right under the strawberries a hive of sweat bees set up their hive (so I simultaneously had guaranteed pollinators and a defense system.)
The first couple of times, I basically lost the whole crop to birds (who are a bit too big to be deterred by the sweat bees). Then I learned the big secret, that the birds were homing in on the strawberries by SIGHT, as opposed to smell. So I started planting only WHITE or YELLOW fruited alpine strawberries, and it worked! With no red, the birds don't know the strawberries are ripe, and they left them alone, free for me to pick.) I imagine Pineberries might also work, since they are also white fruited (though they do have red seeds.......).
Alas, there came a truly bitter winter, and it froze the soil so deep that it killed the plants. So now I have no strawberries. Maybe I'll try again some time with another type (I am intrigued by what I have heard about some strains of Fragaria viridis from Europe producing GREEN fruit......)
- Thread starter
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Dahlia
Deeply Rooted
Yes these wild strawberries had tini tiny fruit. Very sweet though!
heirloomgal
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I have a small row of alpine strawberries at the back of the garden, they are very sweet! When it rains the flavour does dilute, hot and dry seems to produce the best taste. They grow in a big mound that does not spread. When I lived way, way up north (7 hours north of where I am now) I knew a mum & daughter who used to go out in the bush and take the time to pick those tiny berries by the basketful for jam. It must have took them hours. But hat jam was incredible. Best strawberries I've ever had.
