If you think homegrown tomatoes taste good, wait until you try garden-fresh asparagus. Asparagus flavour fades quickly, so you rarely get to taste fresh asparagus if relying on grocery stores. Homegrown spears are usually much thicker and yet much more tender than those produced commercially.
Asparagus is a perennial and, though it can take several years to get established, an asparagus bed can produce an abundance of spears annually for 15-20 years. When establishing a new bed, space plants 18" apart. Once planted, asparagus is a very low maintenance crop: feed your plants once a year and remove the dead fronds in late fall.
The varieties offered here produce predominantly male plants, which focus their energy on producing more spears rather than seeds, resulting in larger harvests.
Varieties:
'Eclipse' Asparagus
- New cultivar from the University of Guelph. Huge yields of very thick spears in early to mid-season. All male hybrid. Disease resistant. Thrives in a range of climates, including cool regions. Cold hardy to Zone 3.
'Jersey Knight' Asparagus
- A popular high-yielding, all-male hybrid variety known for its superior disease resistance and large, tender spears. Cold hardy to Zone 3.
Common names: Asparagus, Green Asparagus, White Asparagus
Edible: Shoots
Harvest timing: April
Scientific name: Asparagus officinalis
Light requirements: Full sun
Full-grown size: 3-5' tall x 3-5' wide
Hardiness: Zone 3 or 4, depending on variety.
Pollination: Self-pollinating and cross-pollinating, but neither are required to produce spears.
Noteworthy: Any variety of asparagus can be grown as white asparagus if deprived of light while growing. Try placing a dark pail over several plants at the beginning of the season. White spears do taste different than green, so give it a try.
WE DO NOT SHIP LIVE PLANTS. THEY ARE AVAILABLE FOR PICKUP AT OUR NURSERY IN ERRINGTON, BC.
