Emma Cooper

Three unusual strawberry varieties

A strawberry guava and a Hottentot fig

I have long been enthralled by Kore Wild Fruit Nursery‘s catalogue – they have such a large range of unusual edibles.

A couple of weeks ago the time was finally right to place an order (I need permanent residents for the new Grow Dome bed) and so I did.

The new bed wraps around the ponds, so at various times of the year it might not get a lot of sun and needs plants that can cope with some shade. They also need to be low maintenance perennials, as it’s not the easiest space to reach into. And so I have chosen three unusual strawberries – Beach Strawberry (Fragaria chilensis), Musk Strawberry (F. moshata) and Scarlet Strawberry (F. virginiana). They should spread to fill the space, although I did avoid the Green strawberry, which is supposed to be lovely but a little on the vigorous side.

The Hottentot fig (Carpobrotus edulis) enjoys hot and dry conditions, but sounds surprisingly hardy. It can colonize the planting holes at the edge of the bed.

And finally, a strawberry guava (Psidium cattleianum) which may be too tender to overwinter in the Grow Dome and have to come inside, but it sounded too beautiful not to have one.

The plants arrived on Tuesday, nicely packed in a recycled cardboard box and newspaper. They’d been removed from their pots and wrapped in clingfilm, which I thought was a lovely way to keep them safe and save on plant pots (of which I have more than enough already).

I potted them all up yesterday evening (the new bed is not ready yet). The strawberries have gone out to the Grow Dome, and the other two have come back inside the house for their first winter.

It was the first test for my new garden toolbelt, and it’s awesome!