strawberries for semi-shade?

I was hoping the Alpine strawberry, which originally tolerated shade, would work for my shady property, but apparently that ability has been bred out of them. Does anyone know of a strawberry that will bear resonably well in part shade?

I also thought I'd seen that the Alpine Strawberry could handle some shade, but I didn't want to respond until I'd found at least one source.... I was just paging through the Bluestone Perennials 2005 catalog, and they have alpine strawberries. They list its light requirements as including some sun, part sun, and half shade (they have a 5 level ranking for light, and these 3 levels are checked but not mostly shade or shade). Mine get shade from probably 4 o'clock onward in summer, which I know isn't much, but most of our yard is very sunny.

I guess I would suggest trying another source for the seed, or ordering plants from Bluestone (wait for the sale! last year they went to 40% off) and maybe you'll get a different strain. I didn't save any last year, but I'll try to do so next season.

FYI, here's the link to their online catalog: http://www.bluestoneperennials.com/b/bp/STRIS12.html

Thanks for your help. I have found that Alpine are so small that they are not worth the limited space I have to grow them. I settled on Earliglow and Lateglow for sweet strawberries that yield well in light shade. Thanks for your help. I do like Bluestone Perrenials.

True.... you'll never get enough alpine berries for a pie.... but that "strawberry candy" taste makes it worthwhile to have even a couple of plants in a container so you get an occasional nibble from them....

Thanks for letting me know about the Earliglow & Lateglow.... I'll be interested in hearing how they do for you!

We started Earliglow last spring. It produced quite well for 1st year plants. Of course, we're told to not pick the first year's berries, but........

like it is possible to resist!

I've heard this advice too, but I'm not sure it makes sense. I can see possibly removing flowers from the plant or picking all or most of the fruit while it is still small and green, so the plant puts its energy into foliage and roots, but I see no benefit to the plant in retaining ripe berries... ??

I just noticed that Burpee's has two alpine strawberry varieties listed in their seed specials for 95 cents. I'm tempted to start a few of both and see how they compare to the variety I have. Thought I'd mention it for anybody following this thread that might be interested in these small but very tasty berries. It's possible one of these might work better for shade than the one woodspirit1 mentioned. If I order them, I will doubtless have extra seeds.... :-)