Mara Des Bois Strawberries

Does anyone have a source for Mara Des Bois strawberry plants. They are said to be outstanding. How do they taste? Will they do well in zone 5b? Are they June-bearing or everbearing, etc. Thanks for your help!
Brian

You may have to go to Europe for them..........

http://www.marionnet.com/UKmara.htm

Yuska

They are everbearing. The only source in the US is Wicked Wilds. They are everbearing and should do well in 5b. The everbearing crop does taste very good. There is also a big June crop and those for me were not super great. Overall I think they are a great berry.

Scott

BB, Scott is correct that it's an everbearing strawberry. The berries are medium to medium-small but the flavor is excellent provided that it's not overwatered (courtesy of mother nature). I got mine from White Flower Farm but I don't think they have them in stock at this time.. These strawberries tend to be more expensive than the regular strawberry plants so one will be fine. Like I had bought 3 plants in June. By Sept, I had runners everywhere (was out of town for 2 stormy weeks).. Too bad I already gave out all my runner plants..

Thanks for your info! I'll pester White flower farm next Spring. Does anyone else have any imput? Thanks! Brian

Got another nugget for ya.. Don't get too many even if you're planning to do a bed of them.. I got three for a 12 hole strawberry pot. Put 3 at the top and pockets were overflowing with baby plants by Sept.. That didn't include the runners that went rampant when I was out of town.. Must have given out at least 20 baby plants..

FYI, the runners will set multiple plants per runner.. I gave each plant one runner (to maximize berry output) to play with. As each runner set baby plants, I planted each one. But the original runner kept running with new baby plants so I kept planting in the other empty pockets. That's how I ended up with so many plants from my original three. And if you leave them unattended for a week or two, you'll come back to new runners in addition to the ones you left to propagate new plants..

I just got a White Flower Farm catalog offering these strawberries at a ridiculously inflated price - 9 [nine, count'm] plants with a silly jar to plant them in for $119.

Dunno.. I was able to get single plants from them.. I got them for $7 or $8 each.. Not sure how there are offering it now though.. They were offering them 3 for $24 before though..

I bought seveal of these Mara des bois plants as bare roots which I have put into the ground this past week. Does anyone know whether I can expect any fruit this year?

I don't have Mara Des Bois plants, but I've had good results from other orders I've placed with the Strawberry Store. Actually, my plants right now are just beginning to put out strawberries. :) I just checked their site to see if they've got any Mara Des Bois plants and it looks like there are some quick starts available - 1 for $2.99, which isn't too bad. Hope that helps!
http://www.thestrawberrystore.com/buyplants/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=14

I just got Mara des bois strawberries from Nourse Farms. They look very healthy, too. I was really pleased to find them there. I had read about them and wondered whether they were as good as they were reputed to be, and then when we were in France this fall there was a woman selling them at the outdoor market, so I got to try them. They were excellent, so I ordered them from Nourse. I'm curious to see if they'll taste the same here!

I will definitely report back; I'm curious, too. I don't know whether there are different strains of it, either, or whether they are all genetically the same. At least, having tried them once, I have something to compare these with.

Nourse says that day-neutral strawberries like Mara des bois should have their blossoms removed for the first six weeks and then they should be allowed to fruit. They also say that day-neutrals don't "renovate" so they are only good for one whole summer and part of the next. Others who have gotten Mara des bois from different places found that they did create daughter plants which fruited in succeeding years, so it will be interesting to see what happens.

Well, it looks like Mara des Bois bare roots do great the first season! The 25 I planted the first week in April have already produced perhaps a pound of berries, and are getting ready for their second crop (and these ones look bigger than the first). I didn't take off any flowers - just pinched off all the [dozens of] runners.

As for renovating, my parents' Maras are in their thrid year and are loaded with fruit. I just love these plants!

Good to hear a report, Cadifor. Mine were shipped April 25th; the directions that came with them said to remove flowers for the first six weeks so that's what I did. They are producing more flowers now and I'm looking forward to seeing how they produce. There was one flower that I missed early on, so I did get to try a berry, and it was the same taste as the ones I had in France; I was very pleased!

Why did you pinch off the runners? I'm not doing that; maybe I should be.

I think it's the same idea as pinching off flowers - I don't want the plants spending energy producing daughters, but rather producing berries! Not to mention that I don't have any space for daughter plants at the moment.

We have some space, and I was thinking that the daughters would be good for replenishing the stock next year. How do your parents handle theirs?

They've only let a few daughters establish themselves. This year (the plants are three years old) they are thinking they will replace most of the original plants with daughters.

Okay, good to know. I guess I should curb their filial enthusiasm a bit....

Miller Nursery had them this spring. Hopefully they'll carry them from now on. They're everbearing. :-)

I know. I picked off the blossoms for the first six weeks and now I'm going to let 'er rip. My first-year Cabots are done blooming for the season; I hope next year's crop will repay my efforts!