Plant · P-311

Asparagus

Asparagus officinalis

Asparagus is the perennial crop everyone wants for the young spears - eaten raw or cooked, with male plants producing the better shoots. In climates without a real cold winter, though, the crown never gets the dormancy it needs to bank reserves, so expect a shorter spring cut and thinner spears than the usual advice promises; it also needs sharp, sandy drainage, since it fails to fungal crown rot on heavy, wet soil. Once established it cannot be cut for three full years while the crown builds - cutting spears any earlier kills the planting.