Name: Frageria ananassa aka Berried Treasure Red Strawberry from Proven Winners
Type of Plant: This is a perennial strawberry that flowers repeatedly and continually forms tasty fruit. Hardy from zone 4 through 9, a plant for full sun.
Why I Love/Hate this plant: The Proven Winners folks sent me this as a test plant last summer and I absolutely loved it all season. The foliage was a bright, clean green all summer. The plant produced many bloom stems with cheerful, dark pink flowers and these always developed into fruit.
A Word to the Wise This plant shows it’s ornamental abilities best in a pot where you can see the flower stems and fruit well. It would also be great on a wall that puts the plant at eye-level, or in window boxes. I grew my pot in part sun from dawn until about noon, and it was in constant flower from late-May into October. A winner for edible and ornamental uses.
Note that it’s very hard to protect strawberries from chipmunks and other critters…although I ate quite a few berries off of my plant, the chipmunks got more than I did. Since this plant is so beautiful I didn’t mind sharing, but if you’re growing berries for your winter survival, you might want to rig up some electrified hanging baskets (just kidding here…maybe) or other protection.
These plants are beautiful. I have them on my deck in a long rectangular pot. I am in the Mpls. area, and have been told they are not hardy here. I wonder, can the whole pot be brought into the garage?
I’d try it – Since I’ve only grown them as annuals and not attempted to over-winter, I don’t know if it would work or not. Let me know if you have success!