The common garden strawberry, Fragaria ananassa, is a popular choice for home growers. Many new gardeners confuse the lifespan of “everbearing” varieties, which promise harvests across the growing season. This leads to questions about whether they are short-lived annuals or perennials that return each spring. Understanding their specific growth habit is the first step to managing them successfully.
Defining Everbearing and Day-Neutral Types
The term “everbearing” typically refers to varieties that produce two distinct crops annually: a large harvest in late spring or early summer, followed by a smaller yield in late summer or fall. These plants initiate flower buds in response to both long summer days and shorter autumn days, providing berries over an extended period unlike the single flush of June-bearing types.
Modern breeding has led to day-neutral varieties, often marketed as everbearing types. Day-neutral strawberries are distinct because their flower production is controlled primarily by temperature, not the length of daylight (photoperiod). They fruit continuously throughout the season as long as temperatures remain within a favorable range, generally below 85 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
The Perennial Nature of Strawberry Plants
Everbearing strawberries are botanically classified as herbaceous perennials, meaning they do return each year. The plant’s root system and the central growing point, known as the crown, are designed to survive winter dormancy. The foliage may die back in the cold, but the crown remains alive just beneath the soil surface, ready to sprout new leaves in the spring.
The plant’s ability to return depends entirely on the survival of this crown structure. In temperate climates, the plant enters a cold-induced rest necessary for proper flower bud development. Without appropriate protection, exposure to temperatures below 15 degrees Fahrenheit can cause fatal damage to the crown.
Essential Care for Winter Survival
Protecting the crown is the primary objective when winterizing everbearing strawberries in freezing regions. Preparation begins in late fall once the plants have gone dormant, usually after the first hard frosts. For everbearing and day-neutral types, only remove dead or diseased foliage, unlike the aggressive cutting back sometimes recommended for June-bearing varieties.
The best time to apply insulation is after the soil surface has frozen to about a half-inch deep, or when daytime temperatures consistently remain in the 20s Fahrenheit. Applying mulch too early prevents the plants from properly hardening off, making them more susceptible to injury. A loose, insulating material like clean straw or pine needles should be applied three to five inches deep over the plants. This layer prevents deep freezing and protects the crowns from damaging freeze-thaw cycles that can heave them out of the soil.
Knowing When to Replace Plants
While everbearing strawberries are perennials, their useful productive life is significantly shorter than their biological lifespan. The constant demand of producing fruit over an extended season exhausts the plant’s energy reserves more quickly than single-crop June-bearing types. This results in a natural decline in productivity and berry size after the first few years.
Everbearing and day-neutral patches typically offer peak yields for only two to three seasons before production slows down. Signs that renewal is needed include significantly smaller berries, reduced fruit numbers, and an overall lack of vigor. To maintain a consistent harvest, plan on replacing the entire patch or starting a new one every three to four years.