Strawberry - Best taste variety

[Madasafish]

Mara Des Bois: tasty. very.
Beat Aromel any day.
(Last year was a mice out:-(

[veg4681]

The nicest ones I've tried are Mara des Bois, which have a wild strawberry taste. I bought some a few years back and would like some more. I think Ken Muir sells plants now.

Doesn't Mara des Bois produce runners? But I recall it as perpetual/everbearer which usually means no runners are produced .

Mara Des Bois: tasty. very.
Beat Aromel any day.
(Last year was a mice out:-(

Sorry are you saying Mara Des Bois is tastier than Aromel or do both comes highly recommended. It does seems that the tastier varieties are not commonly sold as you would get from Wilko or Woolies or are perhaps even the standard GC .

[muckdiva]

I can't remember about the runners on the Mara des Bois plants as it's a while since I grew them, but other everbearer varieties I've grown produce runners no problem, so I assume they will also... can't be certain though. I grew some Fresca strawbs from seed last year, and read somewhere that they are runnerless, but they produced runners all the same! Looks like strawberries are a law unto themselves.

[veg4681]

You're right on the money Muckdiva over Mara des Bois, looks like she's the one after doing a bit of Net surfing. I never quite found a website that is forthright and honest with their reviews on the various strawberry variety as Ken Muir. With the other sites, they're so annoyingly vague even to the point of being evasive that they try to make out that every single strawberry variety is uber tasty that you still come out totally clueless .

Here is the list of what must be some of the best tasting strawberries surely yet so uncommon in an average home garden:

Everbearer
Mara des Bois <-- Flamenco. Also consider Everest & Charlotte
*Malling Opal rated highly for flavour.

Early Summer
Gariguette <--Darlisette <-- Mae. Consider Ciflorette but may be hard to acquire in UK.

Mid Summer
Tenira <-- Cambridge Late Pine (but light cropping) <-- Hapil is rated higher than Marshmello
* Royal Sovereign is highly rated for its flavour (but smaller plants with smaller crops)

Late Summer
Chelsea Pensioner <-- Daisy
* Symphony best suited for North.

[muckdiva]

Heck veg4681, now I'm going to have to order some Mara DB to see if they taste as good as I remember!

[Protea]

I can't remember about the runners on the Mara des Bois plants as it's a while since I grew them, but other everbearer varieties I've grown produce runners no problem, so I assume they will also... can't be certain though. I grew some Fresca strawbs from seed last year, and read somewhere that they are runnerless, but they produced runners all the same! Looks like strawberries are a law unto themselves.

Mara de Bois is delicious, i've been growing this variety for several years now, and yes it does produce runners - millions of them! I've potted tons of them up to keep my plant supply young.

I find that they crop for ever - i even saw a strawberry in November this year on one plant (a snail had got to it before me though ) They will try to flower in the summer too, so you need to (however hard it is!) cut off the flowers to ensure that the late crop is good, otherwise if you're like me and forget, youll end up with a poorer, smaller crop of strawbs in the late summer and autumn, which is when you want them!

I have always bought my plants from KenMuir, i've even been to his nursery a few times. The plants are always of excellent quality and they offer a money back guarantee if you manage to kill them within the first year. The 'how to grow strawberries' book that you get with your plants is also exceptionally helpful.

[veg4681]

I have always bought my plants from KenMuir, i've even been to his nursery a few times. The plants are always of excellent quality and they offer a money back guarantee if you manage to kill them within the first year.

Thanks for another endorsement on Mara des Bois, so I can't be imagining it. It was mentioned by Gordon Ramsay too in a some newspaper article about Wimbledon tennis & strawberry.

BTW the strawberry plants guarantee only covers for a 6 months period, not their usual 12 months for other fruit bushes. If I order from Ken Muir, the strawberry wouldn't be ready for harvesting this year, would they? Wish it was possible to sell plants in their 2nd year .

[pigletwillie]

If you plant them they will certainly crop this year. They will crop better in their second year but you will still get a few punnets this year.

[crichmond]

Ive just sown some strawberrys 'Rugen improved' its a non runner and slightly larger than the standard alpine types.

Cheers Chris

[robD]

I bought Gariguette and Chelsea Pensioner from Ken Muir last year, specifically on the recommendations of flavour. OK so never got anything off the Chelsea Pensioner due to the weather, but the Gariguette ones were the best strawberries I've ever tasted!

[veg4681]

I bought Gariguette and Chelsea Pensioner from Ken Muir last year, specifically on the recommendations of flavour. OK so never got anything off the Chelsea Pensioner due to the weather, but the Gariguette ones were the best strawberries I've ever tasted!

Were they (especially the Gariguette) relatively easy to grow? I guess it's fair to say that they both produce runners? So that's one early fruiting and one late fruiting variety...hmmm perhaps I should go for Tenira as their mid summer fruiting .

[robD]

Were they (especially the Gariguette) relatively easy to grow? I guess it's fair to say that they both produce runners? So that's one early fruiting and one late fruiting variety...hmmm perhaps I should go for Tenira as their mid summer fruiting .

First year last year, 3 of each of them died before they got established, but they are being replaced under Ken Muir's guarantee. Then last summer was pretty crap and my plot suffered from pretty bad flooding. Did a lot of preparation of the site before planting - dug in a lot of well rotted manure and compost from the home composter, and added some rock phosphate to the soil - but other than weeding haven't done anything else.

Yes they do produce runners but I cut them all off as they were first year plants. So guess I'll let you know...

[tomsloc]

Hi, best for flavour are Gariguette -- early and Mara des bois --late

[sarah_h]

I'll second the post about Ken Muir's Mara des Bois. Fantastic!!!

[Welsh Wizard]

I am a big strawberry fan: Its my first year growing them in this garden and currently have: Mara des Boises, Sarian, Honeyoye and Aromel (on PWs recommendation on his blog!). Currently 40 odd plants sitting around in 6 inch pots full of MPC under various cloches/greenhouses to get an earlier crop. All are carefully labelled and will be netted later in the year so I will be able to have a tasting session and not the birds! I will report my findings later in the year. Hoping to propagate up to around 100 plants next year, weather, pots, and time willing!