Strawberries have long been greenhouse crops, always welcome, valuable fruits for the home or commercially. But few ever go “Oooh that’s pretty” rather than “they look fantastic, can I have one?” Truly a tub of verdant strawberry foliage with fat red fruits cascading all round can be a beautiful, though not very long lived, display, tempting but not ‘pretty’. Strawberry flowers are pleasing, as daisies, not scented and only white so not a staggering show.
Now we’ve a choice. They’ve been busy breeding, developed double white flowers, indeed daisy like, and made crosses with Potentillas. Suddenly we’ve pink flowers with Pink Panda and now red flowers. Whilst retaining the ability to produce fruits, not huge and their texture is not as melting as some. However these are definitely strawberries, no doubt about it, not quite as good as the finest varieties I grow–but better than most you can buy.
And pink and red flowers have considerably more impact, yes, ‘prettiness’, the double white not so much –though handy for unique buttonholes! This makes these much improved visually, so can mix with a bench of decorative subjects, house-plants, even on their own for a different display.
Plus, some of these new hybrid varieties are cropping over a longer season than most standard sorts. Toscana have given fruits at Christmas, and with additional lighting I reckon could produce strawberries every month of the year.
If not being forced out of season these don’t need remain under cover, they’re hardy, so can go outside when not in flower and fruit. This is very beneficial as handicapping many pests and diseases that afflict plants permanently housed. With several pots of a variety, then a few can be brought back indoors from late winter at intervals a fortnight apart to come into growth and crop sequentially thus spreading the peak harvest.
You can’t, yet, grow these from seed but plants are widely available, often as sets of three versions. As with standard varieties these are multiplied by rooting runners (and also likewise, surplus runners should be detached). Give them rich compost in a large a pot or tub each- not only does the plant do better but this reduces watering and feeding frequency.