[MickyB]

I have though extending the strawberry season by adding some perpetual (ever bearing) strawberries plants, a new one called 'Finesse' sounds interesting, what can I expect from the perpetual strawberries with regard to taste and yield? I hear they are not as tasty as the summer fruiting variety and the yield is less.

Also has anyone tried the white strawberries?

[JayG]

MickyB - I think I love you! 

Don't be alarmed - I have had my leg pulled by a few members who have been here more than a year for plugging the virtues of the "Albion" everbearer variety on more than one occasion, but I see you only joined in June this year so if you don't mention it to anyone we can keep it a secret. 

A couple of links about the variety:

http://mygarden.rhs.org.uk/blogs/graham_rice/archive/2009/08/02/strawberry-albion.aspx

https://www.sycamoretrading.co.uk/soft-fruit/strawberries/strawberry-albion/prod_311.html?ccUser=

[Beetroot queen]

I had never heard of them before but now i have read the links i am convinced i need some 

Well i am sure we can squeeze a few in somewhere 

[surbie100]

I have a sneaky feeling I have some of thse in my 'inherited' strawberries - they have finished the first set of (very tasty) fruits and more flowers are appearing. There was me thinking that I could start taking the netting off....!

[heloise]

We have a few 'Mara des Bois' everbearers and they are utterly lovely - very fragrant flavour and they keep going. Would highly recommend.

[MickyB]

I have ordered 12 'Albion's' from Thompson & Morgan - thanks for the help.

The plants were advertised as 'runners' I take it I will receive small plants which have been taken off as runners? The other option was 'bare root' which put me off - should it have done?

Has nobody tried the white strawberries?

[surbie100]

Has nobody tried the white strawberries?

nope, to be honest the colour puts me off. I like my strawberries to look old skool...

[JayG]

I have ordered 12 'Albion's' from Thompson & Morgan - thanks for the help.

The plants were advertised as 'runners' I take it I will receive small plants which have been taken off as runners? The other option was 'bare root' which put me off - should it have done?

At a guess they will be rooted runners in modules - bare root plants would probably have been bigger plants which would have been much more expensive to package and post if still planted.

Obviously smaller plants have further to go to get to full size and production than larger ones, but I wouldn't worry about that. I see that delivery will be somewhere between October and March (steady now, T+M!) - just make sure you take any runners off next year to make sure they only spend their energy on producing fruit.

Edit: Just an afterthought - one of the links I posted earlier mentions avoiding planting Albion in a frost pocket.
This is probably just to make sure that early flowers do not get damaged by frost - the plants themselves are as winter hardy as any other strawberry variety.

[JohnB47]

I have five Albion plants, planted in Autumn 2011. They were useless last year but I though this was a combination of a very wet year and young plants.

This year they are equally useless - very few hard, fairly bitter little fruit so far. The plants themselves are still tiny - they just don't seem to be thriving at all. I've had a word with them and they know if they don't improve, they're out. 

In contrast I've had a fabulous crop from my 'Forence' strawberries this year.

[JayG]

Sorry to hear that JohnB47 - you have been very unlucky. 

Picked these about 15 minutes ago - obligatory 50p piece in picture for scale, and yes, they are red all the way through! 

[JohnB47]

They look great - nothing like mine!

[MickyB]

Hmmm tasty, hopefully mine will turn out to be just as good, I will report back next year. 

The plot is not in a frost pocket so the early fruit should be OK.