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Asparagus officinalis |
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| Common name |
asparagus |
| Family |
liliaceae |
| Life cycle |
perennial |
| Flowers |
green (summer) |
| Size |
7' |
| Light |
sun |
| Cultural notes |
ordinary garden soil |
From seed  |
we grow a sterile form
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One of only two perennial vegetables we grow (the other being rhubarb), asparagus makes quite a statement in our vegetable garden. Once it starts shooting up in spring, we typically get only a few meals out of our patch, because invariably, we forget to check on new growth for a few days, at which point the shoots are two feet tall and no longer fit for eating. And they don't stop there - soon after, they are blooming, and reaching to the sky. By mid-summer, our patch resembles an enchanted forest of green upright trunks, with weeds representing the undergrowth, and bindweeds the vines climbing up the trunks. Quite a picture!
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| | In November, our forest even sports fall foliage! |
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| | Close-up, it's easier to see the lily family resemblance. Also posing here is the larva of the asparagus beetle, Crioceris aspargi |
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In our garden, this plant grows in the following area: vegetable garden About my plant portraits
Visitors to this page have left the following comments| pdxJules | Mar 31, 2006 | I recieved five or six 3 year old seeds in a Garden Web trade - and all sprouted using Winter Sowing method. Now that they are a few years old I'm planning to watch and harvest tender stems every few days. Last year they were very productive, so I look forward to eating from these plants for years to come.
The same person also sent me a half-dozen older Asparagas Fern seed, and I got 100% germination on those using Winter Sowing...enuf for 2 airy pots that are doing well indoors, a couple years later. They love being watered with rainwater, and a sprinkle of fresh humus in summer.
I like your method for grouping up sprawling foliage. I think I'll try something like that, and add mulch around the base to keep down weeds and conserve moisture. Thanx for your site! |
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Last modified:
July 13, 2005
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