- Bright and beautifully glossy berries with exceptional shelf life
- Sweet strawberry flavour with a pleasant juicy texture
- The highest yielding variety on our farm when grown without protection for the last four years
Bred and selected at East Malling Research by Dr. David Simpson, Elegance is the most exciting main season variety to be released by that programme. Outstanding 60-day performance, fruit quality, shelf life and yield make this an exceptional selection.
Elegance was named after its elegant, bright and glossy berries which are orange-red in colour and uniformly conic. The berries are firm and hold on the plant for several days with no darkening in colour. The fruit is easy to pick and pack with no susceptibility to finger bruising and with exceptional shelf life.
Elegance has a sweet strawberry flavour with a pleasant juicy texture. The berries are well displayed with virtually no Class II fruit resulting in impressive picking speeds. Elegance was specifically bred for good 60-day yields and its performance in trials has been superb. Elegance was the highest yielding variety of the 19 trialled by the HDC (project SF92a) on Mr George Busby’s farm in 2010-11. At Tongeren in Belgium, Elegance topped the 2011 Maincrop Trial where the variety’s yield and exceptional shelf life created real interest. Elegance has been the highest yielding variety on our farm when grown without protection for the last four years.
Elegance is a mid-late season variety. Picking commences approximately five days later than Sonata and extends over a long period, typically four to five weeks. Elegance is susceptible to Mildew on the foliage and has some tolerance to Verticillium Wilt and Crown Rot.
