Barren strawberry
Waldsteinia fragarioides · Rosaceae
A native evergreen mat of glossy, strawberry-like leaves with small yellow flowers in spring. It bears no edible fruit, hence the name.
- Size
- 5 in tall, 18 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 7
- Light
- Full sun to part shade
- Flowers
- Late April to late May
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Carpet
A bed built around barren strawberry
The planner designed this bed around barren strawberry when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, part sun. It chose the other plants from the 708 that suit those conditions, and says below why barren strawberry stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Barren strawberry × 18, yellow
- 2 Carpathian bellflower × 8, blue
- 3 Brown-eyed Susan × 3, yellow
- 4 Anise hyssop × 5, lavender
- 5 Inkberry 'Gem Box' × 1, dark green leaves
- 6 Coneflower 'PowWow Wild Berry' × 3, pink
- 7 Giant snowdrop × 10, white
- 8 Grecian windflower × 3, blue
Why this plant
- The only open bowls. The others are bells, daisies and spires. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
Why here
- On the front edge. At 5 in it frames the bed without hiding it, and it is in leaf all season. It finishes 70% of the edge.
- 18 plants in 5 runs (5, 5, 3, 3 and 2). Runs of different lengths make the edge a frame, not a ruled line.
Why now
- In flower for six weeks. From late April to late May.
- Fills a gap. For four of those weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
- One of two evergreens. They are what the bed has to show from November to March.
Planned as an English border: 6 of the 6 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. It is planted in layers: about 8 in at the front, 16 in in the middle and 3½ ft at the back. The scheme leans cool (blue, lavender and pink) and uses yellow for warmth, with white to calm things between them.
The planner's own design check: 13 Excellent, 4 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where barren strawberry goes in a border
At 5 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is ground-hugging (up to 6 in).
Its job: carpet. A groundcover planted in threes and fives to cover the soil: along the front, and just behind it.
It makes a tidy, weed-proof carpet in sun or part shade without ever becoming a pest, and the leaves bronze in winter. Best where summers are cool.
- Native evergreen groundcover
- Under shrubs and along woodland edges
- Slopes
What to plant with barren strawberry
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Wild geranium: in flower together for five weeks, from early May; tall enough (20 in) to stand behind it.
- Christmas fern: its dark green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; tall enough (20 in) to stand behind it.
- Woodland phlox: blue against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for five weeks; tall enough (12 in) to stand behind it.
Questions about barren strawberry
Does barren strawberry need sun or shade?
Barren strawberry grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day), part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun) and part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and little watering once settled.
What zones does barren strawberry grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 7. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Above zone 7 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does barren strawberry flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late April to late May. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 4 | Early May to early June |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Late April to late May |
| Zone 6 | Mid April to late May |
| Zone 7 | Mid April to mid May |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should barren strawberry be planted?
12 in (30 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 18 in (45 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 5 in (12 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many barren strawberry plants do I need?
At 12 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 12 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 11 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 38 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as threes and fives, along the front and just behind it.
In the bed above, the planner used 18 in five groups.
Is barren strawberry poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Is there a native plant like barren strawberry?
Barren strawberry is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Green-and-gold: the same job in a bed, the same size, the same flowering time and the same colour; not evergreen, wants moist soil.
- Robin's plantain 'Lynnhaven Carpet': the same job in a bed, the same size and the same flowering time; lavender, not yellow, not evergreen.
- Creeping woodland phlox: the same job in a bed, the same size and the same flowering time; blue, pink or lavender, not yellow, not evergreen.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
Do deer eat barren strawberry?
They may. NC State does not list it as resistant to deer or rabbits. Where they visit, protect it, or plant it among ones they avoid.
What flowers after barren strawberry?
Barren strawberry is over by late May. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Creeping thyme: from early June to mid July, 3 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Lady's mantle: from late May to early July, 18 in tall.
- Astilbe: from late June to mid July, 24 in tall.
What does barren strawberry look like in winter?
Barren strawberry keeps its dark green leaves all winter, so it is one of the plants that hold a bed together from November to March, when the perennials have gone.
Is barren strawberry good for bees and butterflies?
Barren strawberry is visited by songbirds.
In these guides
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Pet-safe plants for shade
- Plants that feed garden birds
- Low plants for the front of a border
- Groundcover plants
- Evergreen perennials, ferns and grasses
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial (groundcover)
- Size
- 5 in (12 cm) tall, 18 in (45 cm) wide
- Plant
- 12 in (30 cm) apart
- Height class
- Ground-hugging (up to 6 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Late April to late May; open bowls; yellow
- Leaves
- Medium texture, evergreen; dark green
- Shape
- Mat-forming, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 7
- Light
- Full sun, part sun, part shade
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Rosaceae
- Attracts
- Songbirds
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.