Wild Strawberry (Fragaria virginiana) is a charming native groundcover that brings beauty, biodiversity, and delicious rewards to your garden. This low-growing perennial spreads by runners to form a lush mat of three-part leaves, which turn a lovely red in fall. In early spring, it produces delicate white flowers that support native bees and other early pollinators. By early summer, you’ll find small, sweet strawberries that are tasty for both people and wildlife. Wild strawberry thrives in full sun to part shade, adapts well to various soil types, and is perfect for edging garden beds, filling gaps, or naturalizing in meadows and woodland edges. It’s a hardy, low-maintenance plant that offers big ecological benefits in a small package.

Woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca) also occurs in our region and prefers shadier, moister habitats. Its leaves are more sharply toothed with narrower leaflets, and it offers similarly sweet, fragrant berries.