Name: Fragaria virginiana (Wild Strawberry)

Height: 4-12”

Spread: 12-24”

Bloom time: April-May

Bloom color: White

Sun: Full sun-part shade

Soils: Well drained soils, even rocky sandy and/or gravel

Water: Dry to moist

Description: Wild strawberry has all the characteristics of a garden strawberry. It sends prolific runners

creating a mat of vegetation filling in and around taller plants quickly. This attribute makes it an

excellent groundcover or green mulch. Do pair with other small ground covers or small plants. Pairs well

with taller plants like Echinacea, Amsonia or larger ornamental grasses. Wild strawberry grows in the

cool season greening up early and re-growing again the fall. It can easily be propagated by runners in the

late summer/fall. If you ever are in a prairie remnant in the spring you will likely notice the white blooms

all over the prairie but covered by the taller vegetation as the year progresses.

*Fun fact. Don’t confuse the true Wild Strawberry with the escaped ornamental mock strawberry

(Potentilla indica). Mock Strawberry has yellow flowers and produces a strawberry looking fruit. The

true wild strawberry has white flowers and produces a very sweet small strawberry. Mock Strawberry is

a common lawn weed in urban areas.