14 Strawberry Varieties: Different Types of Strawberry Plants

Strawberries are the fruits of flowering plants in the Fragaria genus, which belong to the Rosaceae family. They are typically a bright red color with small green seeds dotting the outside skin; strawberries have a sweet, acidic flavor.

Strawberry plants are perennials in many climates, often growing low to the soil as a pleasant ground cover. Despite the name, a strawberry is not a berry but an “accessory aggregate” fruit—each of the apparent seeds on the outside of a strawberry is an ovary, and each ovary contains a seed.

Follow these gardening tips for growing strawberry plants in your home garden:

• Consider overwintering potted strawberry plants. Overwintering strawberries is the process of moving them indoors during the winter to protect them from cold weather. A shed or unheated garage will get the job done. If you plan to overwinter your strawberry plants, plant them in pots or hanging baskets, so they're easier to move at the end of the growing season. Provide additional winter protection by insulating your potted strawberry plants. Wrap them in burlap and stuff straw mulch between the burlap and the pot. Cover the top of the plant with six to eight inches of straw.
• Maintain strawberry runners. Runners are shoots that produce new plants. As runners develop, decide whether to keep, remove, or propagate them. Place runners where you want the daughter plants to form and gently press the ends into the soil to encourage rooting. You can also transplant the daughter plants by putting a pot full of soil next to the mother plant and allowing the runners to take root there.
• Remove the first blossoms. To encourage your strawberries to put their energy into producing roots and shoots, prune off the first flowers. For June-bearing strawberries, remove blossoms the entire first year to ensure healthy plants for the following year. For other varieties, you can pinch off flower buds for the first four weeks and harvest strawberries later in the season.
• Weed regularly. Strawberries have difficulty competing with weeds, so keep your strawberry patch weed-free with frequent hand-weeding and mulching.

Strawberries fall into three general categories: June-bearing strawberries (the most common in the United States), everbearing strawberries (which produce two crops per season, in mid spring and late summer or early fall), and day-neutral strawberries (which are cold-hardy and shade-tolerant but less flavorful). Within these categories are several strawberry plants, many of which are commercially available cultivars. The different types of strawberries include:

1. 1. ‘Albion’: Day-neutral strawberries, ‘Albion’ are very large red fruits with excellent flavor and fruit quality. They are relatively resistant to common strawberry diseases, including verticillium wilt, phytophthora crown rot, and anthracnose crown rot.
2. 2. ‘Allstar’: June-bearers with large fruit and a sweet, mild flavor, ‘Allstar’ (or ‘All Star’) strawberries have delicate skin. The latter trait makes them unpopular among growers looking to ship their fruit but a common choice among home growers and gardeners.
3. 3. ‘Cabot’: Midseason, June-bearing strawberries, ‘Cabot’ strawberries possess an especially large berry size.
4. 4. ‘Camarosa’: Relatively heat-tolerant, ‘Camarosa’ is a June-bearing strawberry cultivar best suited for warm climates, such as Southern California.
5. 5. ‘Cavendish’: With very large and sweet berries, ‘Cavendish’ are June-bearing plants. They are tolerant to black root rot.
6. 6. ‘Chandler’: High-yield, June-bearing strawberries with a classic conic fruit, ‘Chandler’ are relatively tolerant to warm climates.
7. 7. ‘Earliglow’: One of the earliest early-season crops of June-bearing strawberries, ‘Earliglow’ plants produce medium-sized fruits that are firm and hardy.
8. 8. ‘Fort Laramie’: Everbearing strawberries with strikingly scarlet red berries, ‘Fort Laramie’ plants are especially winter-hardy. They grow best in cooler climates without severe summer temperatures.
9. 9. ‘Honeoye’: These June-bearing strawberry plants produce their crops earlier in the season than others. Bright red and glossy, ‘Honeoye’ strawberries can be susceptible to many plant diseases, making them less suitable for novice home gardeners.
10. 10. ‘Jewel’: Large and wedge-shaped, ‘Jewel’ strawberries are the product of late-season, June-bearing plants. They have especially firm and resilient skin, making them a popular choice for shipping containers or beginner gardeners.
11. 11. ‘Ozark Beauty’: An everbearing plant, ‘Ozark Beauty’ is hardy and vigorous. These strawberry plants are somewhat resistant to cold and usually produce large crops in spring and fall.
    
12. 12. ‘Seascape’: A popular day-neutral variety, ‘Seascape’ plants produce a low to medium yield, but their fruits are large and possess good flavor.
13. 13. ‘Sparkle’: June-bearing strawberry plants, ‘Sparkle’ grow bright red, medium-sized fruits with a sweet flavor. They’re especially popular for jams, jellies, and desserts, and they freeze well.
14. 14. ‘Tristar’: A day-neutral cultivar, ‘Tristar’ produces small- to medium-sized berries with a mild flavor. With good disease resistance (including against red stele), they are a hardy strawberry for home gardeners.

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