No, it is not a cultivated form of the native wild strawberry. Rather, the popular garden strawberry can look back on quite a turbulent origin. How the heavenly fruit found its way to us and other facts can be discovered here.

Parent species are native to America

When French settlers discovered the scarlet strawberry with the huge fruits on the banks of the Saint Lawrence River in the 18th century, the native wild strawberry had been known to our ancestors for thousands of years. However, today's cultivated strawberry only achieved the status of 'queen of berries' after a resourceful Dutch breeder in 1750 succeeded in crossing the scarlet strawberry with the Chilean strawberry in a unique way. He aptly named the result 'pineapple-strawberry'.

All modern strawberries, which are planted with enthusiasm in the garden and on the balcony today, came to us from overseas. In the meantime, the breeders have managed to create more than 1,000 strawberry varieties, of which only a small number are offered on the supermarket shelves. It is therefore not surprising that ambitious hobby gardeners dedicate themselves to the cultivation of old varieties and other fascinating experiments.

Native wild strawberry establishes strawberry of the month

Despite their tiny fruits, the wild strawberry found its way into hobby gardens. The monthly strawberries that emerged from it score with a variety of interesting attributes, such as growth in partially shaded locations or tireless blossom and fruit development. Due to their native origin, monthly strawberries are much more robust and sometimes thrive for several years. They impress with a multifaceted variety that is in no way inferior to cultivated strawberries:

  • 'Golden Alexandria' with golden foliage
  • 'Weiße Solemacher', the variety with the white fruits
  • 'Multiplex', an ornamental monthly strawberry with double flowers
  • 'Monophylla' presents a single, large true leaf, rather than the typical tripartite leaf

tips and tricks

Since the monthly strawberry usually does not develop any runners, it is ideal for planting along the edges of beds and paths. Here she throws her multi-faceted attributes into the scales twice. The continuous flowering throughout the summer provides decoration. At the same time, the constant fruit supply provides refreshing vitamins for tired hobby gardeners to nibble on.

Category:

Vegetable garden