Fragaria virginiana is the wild strawberry that roamed North America long before cultivation intervened, ranging from Newfoundland south to Georgia and west to the Great Plains. Its white flowers appear in spring, modest and five-petaled, followed by small, intensely fragrant fruit that wildlife find irresistible. The plant grows only 4 to 9 inches high but spreads broadly by runners, forming loose colonies that serve equally well as a groundcover, an erosion check on gentle slopes, or a generous contributor to a pollinator garden.

It prefers the cooler shoulders of the season — spring and fall suit it best, and it may go partially dormant when summer heat arrives in earnest. Sandy loam with good drainage and organic matter is ideal, though wild strawberry adapts to a wide range of soils given adequate moisture and some sun. Slugs, spider mites, and a handful of fungal diseases can be problems to watch for, but in a naturalized setting with good air circulation the plant tends to hold its own. A tough, honest native that has been feeding the land long before gardens existed.