Growing Strawberries

Types

June bearing or spring bearing, everbearing and day neutral are the three types of strawberries grown in Illinois. Fruits of day neutral plants and everbearers are usually smaller than June-bearers fruit.

June bearing strawberries produce a crop during a two-to-three week period in the spring. June-bearers produce flowers, fruits and runners. They are classified into early, mid-season and late varieties.

Everbearing strawberries produce three periods of flowers and fruit during the spring, summer and fall. Everbearers do not produce many runners.

Day neutral strawberries will produce fruit throughout the growing season. These strawberries produce just a few runners.

Everbearing and day neutral strawberries are great for gardeners who have limited space. They can be grown in terraced beds, barrels or pyramids. They can also be used as an edging plant or a groundcover.

Strawberry Varieties

Strawberry varieties should be selected on the basis of dessert quality; preserving quality; disease resistance and season of maturation.

Strawberry cultivars for Illinois, listed by season from earliest to latest within groups and disease resistance