groundcover

Wild strawberry

Fragaria vesca

Native

Growing guidance

Horticultural figures below are practitioner estimates for planning, pending expert review. The botanical record further down is sourced and verifiable.

Current-climate suitability

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Future-climate resilience

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Sun

Partial shade

Soil moisture

average, moisture-retentive

Heat tolerance

Up to about 36°C

Cold tolerance

Down to about -30°C

Waterlogging tolerance

3/5

Drought tolerance

3/5

Mature size

0.1–0.2 m tall, 0.4 m spread

Seasonal interest

Spring to autumn · White

Maintenance

low

Wildlife supported

General wildlife value 4/5 (verified species relationships are shown only where structured data exists)

Known risks or warnings

Runs vigorously into neighbouring planting.

Toxicity: none

Verified botanical record

Accepted scientific name: Fragaria vesca L.
Family: Rosaceae (Rosales)
Rank and status: species · accepted
GBIF record: Taxon 3029817

Recorded native range: Belgium, Brussels-Capital Region, Flanders, Flemish Region, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Madeira Island, Walloon Region

Recorded as introduced in: Argentina Northwest, Baleares, Bogotá, Bolivia, Brazil South, Canary Is., Cape Provinces, Chile Central, Cultivada, Ecuador, Galápagos Islands, Garden Route National Park and 24 further regions

Ranges are exactly as recorded in the GBIF source checklists and may be incomplete for widely cultivated species.

Fragaria vesca, commonly called the woodland strawberry, Alpine strawberry, wild strawberry, Carpathian strawberry or European strawberry, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the rose family that grows naturally throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere, and that produces edible fruits. The Latin specific epithet vesca literally means "thin" or "feeble", but likely carries the sense "edible" in this context (compare vescor, "to eat").

Description from Wikipedia — Fragaria vesca (CC BY-SA), shortened and unedited in substance.

Native status and geographic context

United Kingdom: native
United States: native
Australia: climate-suitable

Native status is never inferred from climate similarity. Plants restricted or invasive in a jurisdiction are excluded from recommendations there.

Wikimedia Commons contributor · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Where to buy

Real retailers serving UK. Garden Forward publishes no prices of its own — each link opens the retailer's own search results, where their current price and stock are shown.

Search Sarah Raven for Fragaria vesca
Perennials, bulbs and seed, delivered across the UK.
Search Farmer Gracy for Fragaria vesca
Bulbs and perennials shipped direct from Dutch growers.
Search Ashridge Nurseries for Fragaria vesca
Bare-root trees, hedging and fruit in the dormant season.
Search Hardy's Cottage Garden Plants for Fragaria vesca
Specialist hardy perennial nursery.
Search Marshalls Garden for Fragaria vesca
Fruit, vegetable plants and seed.

No affiliate relationship is in place with these retailers, so nothing here earns Garden Forward a commission. Search links checked 2026-09-17. Availability of a species is never a reason it is recommended.

Companion palettes

Not currently in a sample palette.

Climate-resilient alternatives

Data sources

Taxonomy and native range: GBIF Backbone Taxonomy
Species description: Wikipedia — Fragaria vesca
Photograph: Wikimedia Commons contributor · Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Growing guidance: Practitioner horticultural estimates pending expert review

Botanical record checked 2026-09-17 · growing guidance last reviewed 2026-06-01 · confidence high

Demonstration data. Climate, plant and retailer records shown here are realistic samples awaiting horticultural validation and live data connections.