Since the temperatures are still fairly low, the mycelium and roses will wait for a couple days before planting them, but the weather is just right for strawberry planting.

 I bought 3 different varieties of strawberries, 10 seedlings each. The seedlings were a bit expensive, but at least I know I’ll get what I ordered, and the varieties are described as is. There’s a big problem with the seedlings in Croatia, most of them are never what they say. You buy bell peppers and end up with rotunda, tomatoes are sold without a variety, and the same is with strawberries. You never get what you actually want, and getting the name of the variety is real science. The best description you manage to hear is “they are big and tasty”. This is why I ordered from a garden center that actually has the name and the variety description.

This week I went to plant my strawberries in the new bed I prepared earlier. Since the new strawberries should be planted on the bed that was without strawberries for at least 2 years, I opted against planting them to the bottom of the garden where I already have strawberries. I went instead with the new flower bed, which I started last year. This part of the garden was used before as a vegetable bed, but since the whole area was too big for me to dig, I’ve downsized the garden, and this part of the garden has been left unattended for a couple of years. Last year I’ve moved some tulips here, and this year I will plant here a couple of roses and strawberries. Roses have deep roots and won’t be a problem with strawberries, and strawberries will like it here since this part of the garden gets lots of sun in the spring. 

I’ve planted the strawberries in small groups, trying not to mix the varieties, although there was no real need to do this. All of the varieties have different leaves. Still, this way I think they will have plenty of space for growth. The roses will be planted on the upper part of the bed where I have a small path and won’t be in the way while I harvest the strawberries. 

Some of the varieties already have small buds forming, and one variety already seems to have little strawberries on the plants. Since they came with lots of soil, I’m hoping there won’t be any issues with the transplanting, and they will continue to grow like mad.

Out of all the varieties, the “Mieze Schindler” has the biggest and darkest leaves of all. They should be round and have a slight blackberry taste. These are late strawberries, and that’s why there are no flowers on them yet. They are not self-pollinated, so they came with two plants of the Senga Sengana variety. I didn’t have to worry about the right pollinating variety, the garden center packed the right variety by themselves. 

The second, smaller variety which I bought is “Imtraga Selekta”. These strawberries grow and flower at the same time, they should be ripe twice a year, once in May and once in September. They are highly winter resistant and they already have small strawberries forming.

The third variety is “Korona”. Yes, I chose the variety by its name. I could have gone with some other variety, but when I saw the name I immediately started giggling and said that I want them in my garden. In Croatia, we call Covid “korona”, so what better way to remember the last two years than with a new strawberry variety. This variety already has buds on some plants. It should have lots of fruits and stays firm even after freezing, so it is perfect for freezer preservation. 

After the planting, I’ve watered my plants, and then I’ve covered them with agrotextile. They will stay covered for the next two or three days since the morning temperatures are below freezing point right now. We should get some warmer mornings after Thursday when I’ll uncover the plants.

Also, the winds have started blowing again, and I don’t want the cold wind to bite the young leaves. The winds are really chilly and freezing, I actually froze during the planting and couldn’t heat myself the whole afternoon. There’s lots of work outside, but the winds are ruthless. Even Srećko didn’t like being in the garden. He ran around until it started blowing and then hid next to the door, the only place where there were no winds, and waited for me to finish. Hopefully, the wind will stop soon and we’ll finally be able to enjoy gardening in spring.