Plants · Fruit and berries
Strawberry planting zones
Every strawberry on this page (Fragaria × ananassa) is a perennial, so two questions decide it: does it live through your winter, and can it take your summer heat. By the type table below, at least one type is rated for 4a–11a. Below the types are the dates the year turns on: each zone’s median last spring freeze and first fall freeze, from NOAA records.
Published October 28, 2026 · Cite this page
The types
Which strawberry to grow
| Type | Hardy in the ground | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| June-bearing Fragaria × ananassa (e.g. ‘Honeoye’, ‘Jewel’, ‘Earliglow’, ‘Cavendish’) | 4a to 9a, then too hot or humid | One crop a year, the largest. University of Minnesota Extension says they ripen mid-June to early July there, about four weeks after flowering. |
| Everbearing Fragaria × ananassa (e.g. ‘Ogallala’) | 4a to 9a, then too hot or humid | A crop in early summer and another later. Minnesota rates ‘Ogallala’ excellent to very good for winter hardiness. |
| Day-neutral Fragaria × ananassa (e.g. ‘Seascape’, ‘Albion’) | 5a to 9a, then too hot or humid | Flowers and fruits through the season. Minnesota says most day-neutral varieties are not hardy enough to overwinter there, though it may be worth a try under straw. |
| Fall-planted, Florida style Fragaria × ananassa (e.g. ‘Sweet Charlie’, ‘Festival’, ‘Camarosa’) | 9a to 11a, then too hot or humid | UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions grows strawberries as annuals in Florida: planted in fall, picked through winter and spring. |
Zone ranges are a judgement: horticultural convention set beside what the sources below say, not a measurement. They agree with our What survives my winter tool. In the next table the freeze dates are measured, and the count of hardy types comes from these judged ranges; its last column counts back from a measured date by a source’s rule.
Zone by zone
Zone by zone: which types fit, and when the freezes fall
Each date is the median across every NOAA station the zone’s ZIP codes cite, 1991–2020 normals. The middle half of those stations falls within the range shown beside it.
| Zone | Types hardy in the ground | Last spring freeze | First fall freeze | Potted plants out after |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3a | 0 of 4 | only 10 stations with comparable freeze dates — too few to publish a date | ||
| 3b | 0 of 4 | May 18 · middle half May 15 – May 25 | September 23 · middle half September 17 – September 26 | not rated hardy here |
| 4a | 2 of 4 | May 15 · middle half May 10 – May 21 | September 27 · middle half September 22 – September 30 | May 29 |
| 4b | 2 of 4 | May 11 · middle half May 5 – May 23 | September 30 · middle half September 23 – October 3 | May 26 |
| 5a | 3 of 4 | May 9 · middle half May 1 – May 20 | October 2 · middle half September 26 – October 7 | May 24 |
| 5b | 3 of 4 | May 4 · middle half April 27 – May 15 | October 8 · middle half October 1 – October 14 | May 19 |
| 6a | 3 of 4 | May 1 · middle half April 24 – May 9 | October 14 · middle half October 5 – October 20 | May 16 |
| 6b | 3 of 4 | April 25 · middle half April 17 – May 3 | October 20 · middle half October 11 – October 24 | May 11 |
| 7a | 3 of 4 | April 19 · middle half April 11 – April 27 | October 23 · middle half October 17 – October 28 | May 5 |
| 7b | 3 of 4 | April 8 · middle half April 3 – April 16 | October 30 · middle half October 25 – November 3 | April 25 |
| 8a | 3 of 4 | March 30 · middle half March 25 – April 5 | November 5 · middle half November 1 – November 10 | April 16 |
| 8b | 3 of 4 | March 20 · middle half March 13 – March 29 | November 12 · middle half November 7 – November 18 | April 8 |
| 9a | 4 of 4 | March 5 · middle half February 24 – March 15 | November 24 · middle half November 18 – December 2 | March 28 |
| 9b | 1 of 4 | February 12 · middle half January 30 – February 25 | December 8 · middle half December 1 – December 17 | not rated hardy here |
| 10a | 1 of 4 | 107 of 190 stations here record no ordinary freeze, so there is no freeze date to count from | ||
| 10b | 1 of 4 | 70 of 79 stations here record no ordinary freeze, so there is no freeze date to count from | ||
| 11a | 1 of 4 | 34 of 34 stations here record no ordinary freeze, so there is no freeze date to count from | ||
| 11b | 0 of 4 | 12 of 12 stations here record no ordinary freeze, so there is no freeze date to count from | ||
“Types hardy in the ground” is a judgement, from the type table above. The freeze dates are measured. “Potted plants out after” is the date the last spring freeze falls before in nine years of ten (NOAA), since University of Minnesota Extension plants potted strawberries after the risk of frost has passed.
A zone does not tell you your own dates. Inside a single zone the median last spring freeze still varies by 34 days from station to station, so the box below gives the dates of the NOAA station nearest your ZIP code.
Your ZIP code
Your ZIP, your answer
Enter your ZIP code to see your USDA zone, how many of the 4 types on this page live through that zone’s winter and when its freezes fall, read from the table on this page, and the freeze dates of the NOAA station nearest you.
Your answer appears here.
Full details for any ZIP code: ZIP code zone finder.
June-bearing, everbearing or day-neutral
University of Minnesota Extension says June-bearing strawberries give one crop, the largest, ripening from mid-June to early July in Minnesota, about four weeks after flowering. Everbearing and day-neutral types keep flowering and give fruit through more of the season. NC State Extension says strawberries are generally classed as June-bearing or ever-bearing.
Minnesota rates its varieties by how well they winter in zones 4 and 3, all of them under straw: ‘Honeoye’ and ‘Cavendish’ excellent to very good, ‘Annapolis’ and ‘Jewel’ good to poor, ‘Earliglow’ fair to poor; everbearing ‘Ogallala’ excellent to very good; and day-neutral ‘Seascape’ very good to poor and ‘Albion’ fair to poor. It says most day-neutral varieties are not hardy enough to overwinter in Minnesota, though they may be worth a try under straw.
NC State lists ‘Camarosa’ as one of the main June-bearing varieties grown in North Carolina and ‘Albion’ as an ever-bearer fruiting from June to frost.
Florida and the Deep South
UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions grows strawberries as annuals in Florida. It plants in North Florida from September 15 to October 15, in Central Florida from September 25 to October 25 and in South Florida from October 1 to December 1, and says the first fruit comes 90 to 110 days after planting.
It names ‘Sweet Charlie’, ‘Camarosa’, ‘Chandler’ and ‘Festival’ among the varieties for Florida, and says that if birds or rabbits take the fruit, netting over the plants helps.
When to plant
Minnesota plants dormant, bare-root transplants in spring once the soil is easy to get a trowel into, in April or May, and potted transplants after the risk of frost has passed, in May or June. The table above gives that second date for every zone, as the day the last spring freeze falls before in nine years of ten. University of Illinois Extension plants as soon as the ground can be prepared, March or April in Illinois.
Set the center of the crown at the soil line: Minnesota says crowns planted too shallow lose water and can die, and crowns planted too deep may not get their leaves out of the soil. Illinois says not to plant where peppers, tomatoes, eggplants or potatoes have grown, because they carry Verticillium wilt.
Pinch off the flowers for the first weeks after planting, Minnesota says; Illinois removes all flowers the first summer on June-bearing plants, and says flowers that open after July can stay on everbearing and day-neutral plants. NC State also removes first-year blooms.
Rows, runners and spacing
Illinois grows June-bearing strawberries in a matted row, letting the runners fill in, and everbearing and day-neutral ones in a hill system with the runners cut off. Minnesota thins June-bearing plants within two weeks after harvest and removes runners as needed from July through October.
NC State says the plants generally need replacing every 3 to 4 years.
Winter mulch and renovation
In cold zones the bed needs straw over winter. Minnesota waits until two or three frosts have hardened the plants, then covers them with 4 to 6 inches of straw; Illinois mulches between mid-November and mid-December. In spring Minnesota rakes the straw off as the plants start to grow and leaves it in the rows, and pulls it back over the flowers if a frost is forecast.
Renovate June-bearing beds right after harvest. Minnesota mows the plants and thins the bed in the two weeks following harvest, finishing before August 1; Illinois renovates after harvest too.
Supplies
Supplies the sources mention
Each link opens an Amazon search for a plain kind of product, not one we picked. We have not tested these, and we do not rank them.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. It costs you nothing extra and changes nothing on this page: the dates are NOAA’s and the advice is the extension services’. Affiliate disclosure
- Straw mulchUniversity of Minnesota Extension and University of Illinois Extension cover the bed with straw for winter and pull it into the rows in spring.
- Bird nettingUF/IFAS Gardening Solutions puts netting over strawberries to keep birds off the ripening fruit.
Harvest
Minnesota says berries ripen from the tip toward the stem, and that most turn completely red when ripe; it picks as the fruit ripens to keep sap beetles down, and handles berries gently so they are not bruised. UF/IFAS says its Florida plants fruit 90 to 110 days after planting.
Common problems
Minnesota says gray mold is a common fruit rot and that ‘Honeoye’ is the only variety it recommends with partial resistance; removing infected berries at each picking helps. It also names strawberry bud weevil, tarnished plant bug, spotted wing drosophila, sap beetles and slugs.
Birds take ripe berries: UF/IFAS covers the plants with netting. Illinois’s rotation rule keeps Verticillium wilt out of a new bed.
Common mistakes
- Setting the crown too deep or too shallow. University of Minnesota Extension plants its center at the soil line.
- Planting after tomatoes, peppers, eggplants or potatoes. University of Illinois Extension says they carry Verticillium wilt.
- Letting first-year June-bearing plants fruit. Illinois removes the flowers the first summer.
- Mulching too early. Minnesota waits for two or three frosts to harden the plants.
- Skipping renovation. Minnesota renovates June-bearing beds within two weeks after harvest.
- Planting in spring in Florida. UF/IFAS plants in fall and grows strawberries as annuals.
We found no Texas A&M or Louisiana source on strawberries that we read for this page. The Southern advice here is UF/IFAS’s, for Florida, and NC State’s.
Questions
- What is the difference between June-bearing and everbearing strawberries?
- University of Minnesota Extension says June-bearing strawberries give one crop, the largest, in early summer; everbearing and day-neutral types keep flowering and fruit through more of the season.
- When should I plant strawberries?
- In spring in most of the country: University of Minnesota Extension plants bare-root plants once the soil can be worked and potted plants after the risk of frost has passed, and the table on this page dates that for your zone. In Florida, UF/IFAS plants in September to December.
- Should I pick the flowers off new strawberry plants?
- Yes. University of Illinois Extension removes all the flowers the first summer on June-bearing plants, and University of Minnesota Extension pinches them off for the first weeks after planting.
- How do I protect strawberries in winter?
- Cover them with straw once the plants are hardened. University of Minnesota Extension waits for two or three frosts and then spreads 4 to 6 inches of straw.
- Why are my strawberries rotting?
- Often gray mold. University of Minnesota Extension says removing infected berries at each picking helps, and that ‘Honeoye’ is the only variety it recommends with partial resistance.
Sources
Freeze dates on this page are NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, for every station the ZIP codes in each zone cite. Zones are the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, 2023. The type table is a judgement, as labelled above. Growing advice is quoted from the extension publications below, each written for its own area.
- University of Minnesota Extension, Growing strawberries in the home garden . Written for: Minnesota (USDA zones 3a–5a).
- University of Illinois Extension, Growing Strawberries . Written for: Illinois (USDA zones 5a–7a).
- UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions, Strawberries (Accessed October 2026). Written for: Florida (USDA zones 8b–11b).
- NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, Fragaria × ananassa (strawberry) . Written for: North Carolina (USDA zones 6b–9a).
Published October 28, 2026
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