Today, the cultivated strawberry ranks high on the list of preferred foods of people around the world.  Although the genus Fragaria is comprised of numerous species with origins as diverse as Alaska, Hawaii, Chile, central Europe and the Himalayas, the cultivated strawberry is largely the result of hybridization of two species native to the Americas.  Of these two species, Fragaria chiloensis is found along the Pacific coast from Alaska, along the beaches of Chile to the Andean highlands.  The second species, Fragaria virginiana is native to meadows throughout central and eastern North America from Ontario to Louisiana. 

The history of modern strawberry breeding dates back to the 1714 when Amedee Francois Frezier, a French army officer returned from a foreign mission with plants of the large fruited F. chiloensis he had seen fruiting in Chile.  Later in France, these plants were crossed with F. virginiana, which had been introduced into Europe at an earlier date.  Genetic improvement during the next two hundred years was relatively slow and was done primarily by private breeders.  Over the next eighty years,  strawberry breeders have sought to increase yield and fruit size as well as incorporating resistance to diseases and insect pests.

Strawberries remain the favorite of many gardeners around the world because they require little space to grow and fruit relatively quickly after planting.  There are two widely cultivated types of strawberries; "Junebearing" and "Everbearing".  "Junebearing" strawberries bloom in response to short day-lengths, are planted in late fall or winter and produce fruit the spring after planting.  In Texas, the name "Junebearing" does not really apply because in some locations, fruit begins to ripen in February, but with cool springs, plants can at times continue to produce fruit through May and into early June. 

Everbearing strawberry varieties bloom in response under long day conditions and fruit two or more times per season.  Texas summers tend to be far too stressful for everbearing types, and while they can be grown, everbearing varieties tend to produce low yields of small fruit.

Junebearing varieties have shown the most promise throughout the state.  After fruiting, these strawberry types will produce runners, or pups during the long days of mid summer.  If you are attempting to keep a strawberry bed productive for more than one season, the runners should be removed as they are produced and the mother plants should be heavily mulched to help them survive high summer temperatures.  Runners can be used as a source of new plants for the coming year, but need to be rooted and moved to a location with partial shade until fall.