Re: ornamental strawberries
- To:
- Subject: Re: ornamental strawberries
- From: M* T*
- Date: Sun, 30 May 1999 02:43:51 -0400
Joanie,
I grow Fragaria 'Pink Panda' - given me by a friend. I'm quite fond of
this but it will cover ground after a year or so in the ground.
If yours is similar (and I assume it is) the growth habit is to throw out
long runners who root down and form small plants. If you don't want it to
grow somewhere, easiest thing is to keep an eye on it and remove the small
plants who are easy to pull. You can also give the runners a haircut.
In my garden, it is blooming heavily now and blooms sporadically all
season; the leaves remain quite nice all season and are almost
semi-evergreen in a mild winter. The person who gave it to me gardens a
zone farther south and says it does not remain quite as nice foliage-wise
for her.
It will take it a couple of years to fill in, left to its own devices, but
you can lift the tiny new rosettes and re-set them where you want them to
hasten fill-in.
It can spread to cover much more than ten feet if allowed to do so....but
it will take at least 3 years in the ground for it to do this with no
pruning or removing of new rosettes.
They do not need to be fed, assuming that you are planting in decently
prepared soil. And, even so, they seem to grow quite well in unamended
clay. My assumption is that they like a moist soil - one that does not get
baked dry...I've not put them in that condition but since they do quite
well in retentive clay am assuming they prefer it...could be wrong.
I understand the berries are edible, tho' I've not tried them.
If you leave it alone, it could get "thuggish", but if you monitor it and
trim, etc., I see no reason why it would become a thug. They are, however,
more groundcover plants than border plants, if you see what I mean. I
don't think I'd plant it next to a very frail, tiny plant.
Now, you are two zones colder than I am, so this may behave quite
differently in your garden than in mine.
Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@clark.net
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----------
> From: Jeaa1224@aol.com
> Date: Friday, May 28, 1999 9:23 AM
>
> Can anyone advise me? I've just purchased 6 frageria 'Lipstick' to use as
a
> ground cover in a bed with other perennials, and discovered it can spread
to
> 10'. Is there a pruning method to keep it in check and to assure that it
> covers thickly and evenly at the same time? What is the general habit of
this
> plant? And does it flower over the entire summer? Does it need to be fed?
Are
> the berries good to eat? It certainly is
> a stunning bloomer. It's been referred to as a thug...have I erred?
They're
> not planted
> yet.
>
> Thanks, Joanie, Z5a
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