The Strawberry Store

I have been growing alpine and regular strawberries for 5+ years. This spring, I ordered live plants from the Strawberry Store, as I was intrigued by their many varieties. It was easy to order and communication during this process was fine. The plants and shipping were expensive. Due to some cold wet weather when they arrived, I delayed planting them about a week, and kept them in a cool spot, with indirect sunlight until the weather got better. They looked healthy upon planting, though not a lot of live looking roots compared to other strawberries I have planted and transplanted. Once planted and protected with row covers, I had very mixed results. None of the "plug" plants survived, and only about half of the rooted plants survived. About two weeks after planting, I notified the company. No response. A few weeks later, I wrote again, and this time got a very curt response from the owner, basically blaming me for any problems and saying "we don't have an unconditional guarantee." So bottom line, very expensive experiment that I will not repeat. Many of the companies listed on Dave's Garden have excellent customer service and I will work with them in the future.

This is an examplary e-business. The URL is very informative, updates on availablity of products are excellent and the owner is very responsive to the customers. The plants I received --yellow wonder strawberries-- look great and healthy, and were very well packaged.

I have a few Alpine strawberry plants from a long-ago order from White Flower Farm and have had white strawberries that I planted from seeds years ago. They were wonderfully tasty and reminded me of the native wild strawberries I used to pick as a kid. With retirement in sight, and not much yield from the unfortunately-neglected old plants, I was delighted to find this supplier. The online information is very extensive and practical, and the seeds arrived promptly and well-packaged. I ordered both red and white varieties as well as lingonberry and serviceberry seeds. Some of them will be going into flats right away, so I should be able to report on how they do.

You'll find separate websites now for strawberry plants and strawberry seeds, but it's easy to navigate between and within the sites. I had a friendly, informative exchange with Mike after my DG article on alpine strawberries was published. I've grown a couple of varieties here and have been looking forward to trying some new ones from him; this year I finally got around to ordering. Wow. I placed a late night order, my seeds were shipped the next day and arrived the day after that. I really appreciate that the seeds have already received cold treatment and arrive ready to plant. I also appreciate the wealth of information on the site, not only about the plants but also about growing them from seed. Mike's selection is amazing. You'll have a hard time narrowing down your choices. Check out the comparative chart he put together on productivity, flavor, etc. of many of the available varieties.

Very happy with germination rate and information available on website.

Posted on September 5, 2012, updated November 30, 2012 About 2 weeks ago I ordered three varieties of strawberry seeds: 2 Alpines (Reine des Vallees and Yellow Wonder) and 1 Virginia strawberry, Scarlet Intensity. I sowed the seeds August 20th and by Tuesday the 24th I already had some sprouts! The Strawberry Store website has a great guide to germination which I found very helpful. I grew some Alpine strawberries one other time and have three plants in my yard from that. My daughter loves them so much (they're just the right size for little fingers) that I wanted to try some other types. The Yellow Wonder have definitely germinated the best- lots and lots of seedlings there. The Virginia strawberry seeds were a lot larger but have been a little slower to sprout. I used the whole packet (20 seeds) and so far have about 5 sprouts in that tray. So far, so good. Now I just need to do the hard part- turn sprouts into plants!

I ordered several different varieties of strawberry seed. They were shipped quite fast and now, after a few weeks, I have excellent germination.

I called and spoke to Mike, I was curious to which variety of Strawberry Seeds I should buy since there was a lot. He was very helpful and gave me a few recommendations. Not often do you find honest people who are willing to help you find the right product, most of the time companies will tell you whatever they want just so you can buy their stuff.. I'll be placing an order soon.

Excellent germination within 7 days of all the many varieties I ordered (not to mention, my order arrived only 2-3 days after I placed it). I used small "snack" type zip plastic bags, dampened paper towels, and a cool windowsill. Now to move them into growing medium! (I couldn't see they had germinated without using a magnifying class, btw.) Excellent source for unusual strawberries!

Quick delivery of some unique and well-priced seeds. If the seeds work out, I will be ordering more.

I purchased three varieties of alpine strawberry seeds (Alexandria, Mignonette, and White Soul) and 60-cell seed-starting tray (pre-filled with fertilizer enriched media) from the Strawberry Seed Store earlier this year and so far I give this company a 5/5 rating for Selection, Quality, Information Content, and Customer Service. I did ALOT of researching online prior to the purchase, and I found this website to have the most comprehensive selection of alpine varieties available anywhere on the net. Before finding this website, I was faced with the inconvenience of having to make individual purchases on multiple websites in order to fulfill my very specific shopping list. Needless to say, I avoided any extraneous and unnecessary shipping expenses by finding everything I needed at the Strawberry Seed Store. The website is also full of detailed information regarding history, characteristics, and culture of the plants; It was an invaluable reference for me when it came to the dreaded day of sowing. Since the seeds were pre-chilled at the company, all I had to do was sow it and wait for what I thought could be up to a month. Now, I can't guarantee these results for everyone but the first seed came up after 3 days under a modest grow-light set-up; one week after sowing, there are sprouts everywhere. I simply couldn't be happier with the quality and germination rates of the seeds. Customer service is excellent and email responses are prompt. I had many questions while germinating the seeds and sent the company an email on a couple of occasions. For both cases, Michael Wellik the owner himself, promptly emailed an highly detailed yet concise response which addressed all my questions. He even insisted I follow up with some feedback on the performance of the plants. Bottom-line: I would definitely do business with this company again and highly recommend them for anyone looking for quality products from a quality company.

Posted on June 1, 2011, updated June 12, 2011 Was not very impressed with the plants that I received. I ordered 6 starter packs of the "Mara Des Bois", 6 of the "White D" 1 of the Mignonette and a 6 pack o the Mignonette. The plants arrived bone dry, which is unacceptable to me as I am located very close to the shipper. Almost half of the leaves were broken on the White D plants. Each plant was wrapped in newspaper, but still every starter plant had at least one broken stem. The plants look ok, but a few of the White D look tattered and really unhappy. I'll post an update after they settle in and see if they make a rebound.

I recently received my third order from this wonderful company. My first order, for a dozen 'Mara des Bois' strawberry plants, arrived promptly and the plants were well-packaged, healthy and had massive root systems. Price was very reasonable and the 'Mara des Bois' are settling in nicely to their new home with lush new foliage. The second order consisted of seeds for several types of rare strawberries. I received the order on 5/7, sowed the seeds in a biodome-type germination system the same day, and today (5/11) I see signs of my first sprouts. I could not be more pleased, especially since some of the seeds are Fragaria moschata, musk strawberries. What other nursery in North America has ever sold three cultivars of musk strawberries in addition to musk strawberry seeds? My third order arrived today, and consisted of plants of several cultivars of musk strawberries (Fragaria moschata) and scarlet strawberries (F. virginiana). Several pots had more than one plant, and all of them were healthy with enormous root systems, ready to take off as soon as they are planted. Packaging was excellent. The owner has been very responsive to questions and is doing home gardeners a wonderful favor by making many of these rare, gourmet, heirloom strawberries available. A lot of these varieties are available nowhere else. I look forward to seeing what other species and cultivars he might offer in the future.

I purchased alpine seeds from him and have had a pretty good germination rate though I haven't figured out if it's meeting what is stated on the packets. What I'm really quite happy about is the level of support and quantity of information he provides. He has quite a bit of information provided on his multiple web sites and youtube channel. His prices are also quite reasonable. It feels good to buy from an entrepreneur you can tell is so invested in his product.

I ordered seeds about 3 weeks ago, have received the seeds and already have germination. There was no pre-treatment needed, and I think my germination rate will be higher than that stated on the packet. I am very happy with my purchase and would highly recommend this company.

I ordered alpine and musk strawberries in April 09 after finding this seller via the Cornell University site. The owner sent me very well packed plants. The musk strawberries in particular were huge & had massive root systems, and are very happily blooming away in my garden now. The alpine strawberries are holding their own (no blooms yet). The owner was kind enough to knock $20 off my total because he was able to get everything in one box. Nice!

I ordered 'The Italians" alpine strawberry seed collection in January as well as "3 Musks" - a selection of 3 types of musk strawberries in January. Mike was kind enough to hold off on shipping the musk strawberry plants until April 15. When they arrived, the plants were large and vigorous - some had more than one plant in a pot. They are already blooming like mad in my garden and I hope to enjoy my first musk strawberries soon. I started the seeds the same day I received them and had nearly 100% germination within 7 days.