Strawberry Babies

We have lots of strawberry plants.  Several years ago, I had the idea that they would make great garden borders (and they do, except when planted near mint or overtaken by rude kikuyu grass).  Then Amelie-Lover-of-Fruit came along and it turned out that our 30 plants did not yield enough for a marauding toddler and two adults.  Last year I got 15 strawberry babies from the existing plants to add to the collection.

Over the winter, my strawberries have again set out their runners.  I transplanted 35 babies this afternoon.  And I haven’t even looked under the kikuyu grass yet.  Rather prolific with their baby making this year, those strawberries.

Isn’t it deliciously ironic that the strawberry, Fruit Queen of Romance and Honeymoons, is actually an anaphrodisiac.  As in, it “blunts the libido”.

And to add ironies to ironies, the strawberry itself is actually the enlarged stamen of the plant.  In case you’re not up on your plant biology, stamen = male organ of flower.  My, that’s some stamen.  But watch out, it’s a libido blunter.

Apparently, in the case of the strawberry, it’s not the size that matters.

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