Strawberry Varieties

It is possible to eat homegrown strawberries from May to September by selecting different varieties. Strawberries are usually classified into three main types: summer strawberries, day neutral strawberries, and alpine strawberries.

Summer Strawberries

These are the traditional strawberries that arrive all at once in June, giving a splendid harvest of large strawberries for two to three weeks. The plants are very hardy, and throw out runners that can be replanted, allowing the strawberry bed to be constantly renewed (and moved to a new location after three years).

Day Neutral Strawberries

A modern name for perpetual or everbearing strawberries, these are strawberries that do not concentrate their crop in the period leading up to the longest day, but spread their harvest out from June to September, provided the weather stays warm. Growing day neutral strawberries avoids a glut of strawberries in June, and new varieties are claiming to consistently produce large strawberries (typically they are smaller than summer types) and without fallow periods (a trait of everbearing strawberries).

Alpine Strawberries

These are delicious sweet small strawberries that, like day neutral strawberries, bear their fruit throughout the summer. Like their fruit, the plants are small, meaning that they are ideal for planting in pots and other containers.

Other differences in strawberries include the timing of their harvest, the sweetness level of the strawberry and its reputation for taste, their size, and even their colour. There are white strawberries and strawberries that ripen to a deep shade of red.

Whereas summer strawberries consistently send out runners, this is not as common for day neutral and alpine strawberries. Some people choose to grow day neutral strawberries as annuals (planting in the previous autumn for a harvest in the following summer). Alpine strawberries can be grown from seed in the spring (or earlier if sown indoors).