Berried Treasure^® Red Strawberry Fragaria ananassa

This is my first year growing Buried Treasure Reds/Pinks in a Zone 4a climate. I mainly picked this variety of strawberry because of the beautiful red/pink flowers. Here was my experiment and what I learned from the experience with this variety: I bought 6 Buried Treasure strawberry plants from a local garden centre, all in 4” nursery pots. I planted one in a long rectangular plastic pot with some chives and put that one in a semi-shaded spot on my deck (south facing). I let the potted strawberry flower and currently I have about 10 strawberries growing in nicely and more on the way as it’s blooming and growing very well. The other five I planted in my garden bed (north facing backyard, but full sun throughout the day). Only two of the five in my garden bed survived and they are doing well, though much smaller then other varieties I have grown in the past. After loosing 3 of my 5 strawberry plants, I decided that I would prune the flowers from my garden bed strawberries to give them their first year to establish strong, healthy roots. Dappled shade is obviously a must for this variety of strawberries, The two that survived and thrived in my garden bed are closest to the stone edging of the bed which provided them with light shade during the day and more protection from the elements - similar to the strawberries in the pot on my deck. While the flowers are pretty, obviously I’m growing strawberries for their quality and flavour which so far I am underwhelmed with. I want to give them a solid chance though, so I’ll update my review if my garden bed thrivers turn out to be delicious next season. If you live in a climate where your strawberries can survive the winter in a pot I would definitely recommend growing this variety in a pot (or anything pot-like with potting soil). The flower colours add a nice touch as they flow over the sides and so far my first year experiment has led me to conclude that growing this variety in a pot yields the best results in looks and fruit when transplanting outdoors.

Bought strawberry plants for two seasons. This year included the Proven Winners and Proven Harvest. Nursery told me how wonderful they are, but alas for me no luck. Very disappointed.

I cannot recommend these. After watching Garden Answer plant these in a Galvanized steel tub, In 2020, I bought 4 potted plants and planted them in a galvanized container with organic matter, organic soil and Berrytone fertilizer. Since they were planted late in the season, I wasn't too upset with the small berries and lack of taste. I figured I would give them another year. In 2021, they survived our winter in Zone 6a and I fertilized with Berrytone and added organic matter. They came up beautifully and the flowers were so pretty. Again, small and tasteless berries. I would say 10% of the berries were large--but still tasteless and not sweet. They were prolific, but I will not plant them again and I will be taking them out of the planter and discarding them. My time, energy and space are too precious to waste them on produce that tastes awful. I also don't want to have to add sugar to my homegrown fruit. I usually have to do that with store bought fruit, if at all. I gave 2 stars because they were pretty and prolific in the 2nd year. But again, I cannot recommend them.

Full Disclosure: I am a novice gardener and dont really know what i am doing. However, i bought a combination of 16 (I thinK) plants in red, pink, and white. We eat a lot of strawberries and I knew from watching Laura (garden answer) that they were on the smaller side so i wanted to have plenty. I planted them in a GreenStalk garden tower which a bunch of other stuff (the other stuff grew like crazy! And surprisingly fast!!!) so i know it was not the way i planted them…..They started out looking ok but after a few weeks, they all got dried up looking and white crystal hair things all over. I think i got about 4 strawberries from them collectively before this happened. :( It was VERY humid around that time and the air was really “thick” so i thought it may have been a type of infection/fungus from the moist air? The other plants did OK but didn’t seem as robust but either way all the strawberry plants died. This was my first time growing strawberries and it was an expensive experiment.

I see that many people had poor germination with these seeds. Well since I can't even grow decent Tomato Seedlings, I ordered Plants. I ordered 5 of the Berry Red. I left the seed starting to the Professionals. My plants were delayed because they needed more growing time in the Nursery. I totally appreciate that Proven Winners will not ship tiny plants that don't stand a chance of survival in my yard. When they arrived they were Large Beautiful Plants. I have planted them in a Raised Bed and have them on drip irrigation. They are Healthy Happy Thriving Plants. Blooming and can't wait to have my first Strawberries.