If your strawberries taste very sweet this summer, you are right.
According to the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), the UK is having a very good summer for strawberries. The weather in June was perfect for them. It was sunny and warm, which made the fruit grow earlier and taste sweeter.
This year's weather was very good for garden plants. In May, there was cold weather called frost, but the strawberry flowers were safe. Then, they got a lot of sun in June. Now, the fruit is ripe and delicious. Other fruits like raspberries and gooseberries are also growing very well. Blackberries and blueberries will be ready later this summer.
Because of the good weather, more people in the UK want to grow fruit. Sales of small strawberry plants are up by 240% compared to last year. Sales of all fruit plants have also increased by 25%.
Gardeners are also trying to grow new and unusual fruits. One popular choice is the honeyberry, which is a blue fruit that tastes like a mix of blackberry and blueberry. People are also growing wineberries, which are a type of raspberry from Asia with a sherbet taste.
Even larger fruit trees are doing well. In Surrey, at the RHS Garden Wisley, gardeners moved fig trees outside in 2024. These trees are now growing fruit successfully. Grapes are also expected to ripen earlier this year because of the June sun.
Next week, the RHS Badminton flower show will start, and strawberries will be a main attraction. Visitors will see wild strawberries in some of the gardens. Wild strawberries are native to Britain and are very small and sweet. In the past, kings and queens from the Tudor and Stuart times collected them to plant in their gardens.
Modern garden strawberries are different because they are a mix of two American varieties. In 1822, the RHS asked its members to help find the best strawberries. This was their first big science project with the public, and it helped create the large, juicy strawberries we eat today.