Alpine strawberries

Alpine strawberries (Fragaria vesca) are small, near-wild strawberries grown for intense flavor and fragrance rather than size. The Cornell Small Farms Program notes that alpines are hardy in Zones 3 to 10, form small plants that lack runners, and are everbearing, with fingernail-sized, very fragrant berries. You can start them from plants or from seed, and seed-grown plants bear in their first season. They grow well in containers and as edging. The berries ripen a few at a time from late spring into fall.

Grow alpine strawberries if you want a tidy, low-maintenance edging or container plant that gives a steady handful of flavorful berries all summer. If you want large harvests for jam or freezing, grow June-bearing garden strawberries instead. After more than a decade of growing hundreds of alpine plants, I still think they are one of the best fruits for a small garden.

Introduction to alpine strawberries

Alpine strawberries (Fragaria vesca) are a tiny type of strawberry known for their delicious, aromatic wild-strawberry taste. They are flavorful, luxurious, and extremely cute! Unlike their larger grocery-store counterparts, alpine and woodland berries were not bred for size. These little beauties are all about the flavor! Alpine strawberries aren’t exactly a high-production crop, but they certainly are well worth growing in your garden.

Growing alpine strawberry plants in your garden

Alpine strawberries are packed full of as much sweetness as adorable-ness. They are a favorite variety to eat and grow due to their old-fashioned strawberry flavor and easy-to-grow characteristics in the garden. If you can find them, alpine strawberry plants are well worth growing!

Alpine strawberry (Fragaria vesca) plants are a naturally occurring wild species of strawberry. Alpine strawberries are day-neutral, meaning they flower no matter how long or short the days are (amount of daylight). The fruits of Alpine strawberries are long and thin.

Alpine strawberries are ridiculously well-behaved. They make great container plants. They don’t put out runners with the enthusiasm of garden strawberries and stay nicely within their container. Even without many runners, make sure you plant them with enough space to allow for proper growth!

“All our native strawberries are easy of cultivation and have well-deserved reputations as dependable groundcover plants.”

Gardening with Native Plants of the Pacific Northwest, by Arthur R. Kruckeberg & Linda Chalker-Scott.

Alpine strawberry plants also put up with a certain amount of neglect. I am frequently away for 7-day stretches and can’t water my plants. The strawberries don’t seem to mind the mini droughts at all. I am convinced that my neglect is good for them. Ever notice that strawberries that have been watered a lot taste, well, watery?

Another excellent characteristic of alpine strawberries (Fragaria vesca) is that they will provide fruit and are considered in season from June to September.  They will also bear fruit in their first year. And, as mentioned above, they will not send out excessive amounts of runners. This is not a common characteristic of many garden strawberries!

Plant Addicts sells alpine strawberry plants.

Alpine strawberry varieties

There are several popular varieties of Alpine Strawberries available for gardeners to grow. Some are red with a white inside, while others are yellow with a white inside. Here are some of the most popular varieties of alpine strawberry plants:

• Mignonette Alpine Strawberry
• Yellow Wonder Alpine Strawberry
• Alexandria Alpine Strawberry
• Ruegen Alpine Strawberry

Alpine strawberry plant origins & background

But what actually is an Alpine Strawberry? Alpine strawberries are true heirloom berries. Fragaria vesca is native to much of the USA and Canada, as well as areas in Asia and Europe.

Alpine Strawberries are classified as Fragaria vesca, along with Woodland Strawberries (Fraises des Bois). Typically, gardeners refer to the long and thin Fragaria vesca berries as Alpine Strawberries, while the rounded Fragaria vesca are called Woodland Strawberries. Alpine Strawberries tend not to grow runners, while Woodland Strawberries do run. Alpine Strawberries are day-neutral, while Woodlands are June-bearing.

Woodland berries are not a hybrid variety like most garden or supermarket strawberries. Alpine strawberries are much smaller than these hybrid types. Check out the photo below for a comparison of conventional garden strawberries to alpine strawberries.

The photo above shows a regular modern hybrid garden berry (left) beside an alpine strawberry (right). Both were grown organically in containers on the south-facing side of my house. The hybrid strawberry looks like what we generally see at our farmer’s markets and grocery stores. The woodland strawberry looks like a bit of a runt.

Growing alpine strawberries from seed

Alpine strawberries are one of the few strawberries usually grown from seed. Most cultivated strawberries are propagated by runners, but Fragaria vesca grows fairly uniform plants from seed, and plants started from seed bear fruit in their first season, per the Cornell Small Farms Program.

I first grew alpine strawberries from seed before we moved to our current home. I kept them in cute planters, pots, and containers indoors, and they did surprisingly well! Growing strawberries from seed is a bit more tricky than from bare-root plants, but it is very rewarding. It’s worth it!

Plus, there are tons of interesting varieties available as seeds as compared to bare-root plants. I like the Mignonette alpine strawberries.

Alpine strawberry seeds for sale

You can get alpine strawberry seeds from a few different seed companies. Burpee sells ‘Mignonette’, a French heirloom with small berries and a distinct flavor and aroma that can be grown as an annual or perennial. Here are ‘Mignonette’ alpine strawberry seeds at Burpee.

Now that I’ve been growing Alpine Strawberries for a few years, I’ve noticed that they are decent self-seeders. Fallen berries tend to grow new seedlings in the garden relatively easily. The established plants also grow quickly and can be divided to get more plants.

True Leaf Market sells ‘Mignonette’ alpine strawberry seeds.

Are alpine strawberries annuals or perennials?

Alpine strawberries are herbaceous perennials. This means that the visible parts of the plant will die off as the winter sets in but will come back up from the roots with new leaves each spring. My plants tend to keep a few of their leaves over winter, which is very cool! It’s kinda fun to see them peeking out of the snow in February.

I love perennial plants because I only have to buy them once! I rarely buy an annual (one-year) plant when a perennial will do. Perennials may cost more upfront, but they will be productive for many future years. Also, less work in the long run…

Alpine strawberries grow their first flowers early in the spring. They are one of the first treats from the garden. The tiny blossoms arrive in early May in our area. We do get berries throughout the whole summer, even into October! While there are fewer berries as the summer stretches on, there are more than enough to enjoy

Tips for growing alpine strawberries

Like most berries, these plants thrive in well-drained soil (sandy, with air voids). They also appreciate rich ground. A mulch of compost will do well on top of the soil.

You may also wish to place dry straw around the plant to keep weeds down. If you do decide to mulch with straw, check that there are no seeds in the straw before you use it as a surface mulch. The berries will sit nicely and dry up on the straw, which will keep them from rotting.

Another wonderful feature of alpine strawberries is the wonderful green foliage. The bright green leaves of Fragaria vesca plants make wonderful ground cover. I’ve planted the ground around my berry walk with a whole row of adorable little plants, and I love it!

Alpine strawberry FAQ

What are alpine strawberries?

Small, near-wild strawberries (Fragaria vesca) grown for their intense flavor and fragrance. The plants are compact and mostly runnerless.

Do alpine strawberries spread?

Most alpine types produce few or no runners, so they stay in clumps. Woodland strawberries of the same species do send out runners.

Can you grow alpine strawberries from seed?

Yes. They are usually grown from seed, and seed-started plants bear fruit in their first season.

Are alpine strawberries perennial?

Yes. They are herbaceous perennials hardy in about Zones 3 to 10. Divide or replace plants when they get old and woody after a few years.

When do alpine strawberries fruit?

They are everbearing and ripen a few berries at a time from late spring into fall.

Alpine/woodland strawberry flavor and tasting notes

Here’s where it gets fun…the tiny woodland strawberry packs as much flavor as the entire hybrid conventional berry. The flavor of those little guys is incredibly rich. That’s not even the best part.

The taste of the alpine strawberry is not only richer but is also slightly sweeter in a way I can’t totally describe. It tastes like whatever those marshmallow strawberry penny candies are trying to taste like. It is magical. Alpine strawberries are magical and often considered one of the best-tasting strawberries.

This is the part where I should be suggesting some sort of recipe in which to use alpine strawberries. Unfortunately, I am unable as the berries never make it more than a few feet from the plant before I devour them. If I could resist them long enough to use them in the kitchen, I’d likely use them to top a dessert. They would be darling on top of a tart!

Trust me, you must try them if you have not already! If you’d like to grow alpine strawberries year-round, check out these instructions for growing strawberries indoors.