Wow Alex, you're planting them pretty close! Your beds are 4' wide right?
I imagine they'll fill in pretty quickly. I had to chuckle, reading about your 160 new plants. I remember you posted that you accidentally ordered 75 more. I started 75 new plants too, but it took me 2 weeks to get the last of them planted! ("What was I
thinking?!"
) I kept the roots wrapped in wet brown paper, but since they were in the garage to keep them safe from freezing temps, the leaves were turning pretty pale towards the end. I ran out of ideas for places to plant, and ended up potting up the last 1/2 dozen or so in 4" pots, to be decided later.
One other type I want to mention is the native strawberry
Fragaria virginiana I have a bed of them that basically started growing on their own (bird offering, probably) in a largish island bed planted with low-growing Japanese Maple trees. They'd spread every year until the entire open area was groundcovered with them. It's really great. The kids love the berries -- intensely flavorful when picked at the right time: red and glossy. They are "June bearers".
Alpine strawberries -- I USED to have them until my MIL decided to "help" and weeded them out on a hot day -- by the time I realized, they'd been laying out in the sun and were too limp to recover. They don't spread by runners, so they are often recommended for planters and small beds, or to line the front of the walkway.
I decided to buy more plants this year so my kids can enjoy a longer strawberry season as well as because they LOVE finding BIG strawberries. Wild strawberries only get as big as the end of your finger -- end of MY thumb if you're lucky, but I have little hands. So although personally, I wanted to get some Alpines, I ended up getting the Stark Red Giant, Sweet Charley, and Tristar (recommended Day Neutral for North East areas). I snuck some of the Red Giants among the Virginianas on the Japanese Maple Island. Can't wait to see the kids' reactions when they find them.
