Red-flowering strawberry could be new garden gem

Berried Treasure strawberry produces gorgeous blooms in heat. (Photo: Debbie Arrington)

Plant introduction: Berried Treasure brings another dimension to 'edible ornamental'

By Debbie Arrington

Berried Treasure lives up to its punny name. It also brings new meaning to "red strawberry."

A 2019 introduction from Proven  Winners, this everbearing strawberry stays compact (no runners) while pumping out a steady summer stream of "snack-size" berries, not too big but quite sweet. 

As a bonus, it's heat tolerant. So far, my test plant has held up extremely well in Sacramento's triple-digit heat. It's blooming in July.

And that's the real appeal of this new strawberry. The flowers are almost as red as its berries. Like rubies glistening on a green cushion, the flowers stand out. They're startling, they're so different. Is that really a strawberry?   

Proven Winners hopes this strawberry, part of its new Proven Harvest collection, will be a hit in ornamental as well as edible gardens. This little gem could add a new dimension to flowering borders and window box gardens. Staying about 12 inches tall with a 24-inch spread, Berried Treasure also grows well in containers. Bees like it, too.

Berried Treasure (Fragaria ananassa) should definitely find a home in California gardens. (We are the strawberry state, producing nearly 90 percent of the nation's commercial crop.) Released in Europe under the name Summer Breeze, this new introduction should start showing up at California nurseries by next spring.

 In addition to the ruby red version, there will be another surprising strawberry: Berried Treasure Pink.

For more: https://bit.ly/2u9dyzj or www.provenwinners.com.