Scientific name: Asparagus officinalis
Family: ASPARAGACEAE
Common names: “Asparagus” “sparrow grass” “wild asparagus”
Plant Type: Herbaceous perennial
Conditions:
Zone: 4-8
Light: Full sun – part shade
Exposure: Exposed or sheltered, seaside conditions
Soil: Heavy feeders, fertile soil
Moisture: Moist well drained
Aesthetic:
Plant Size: H 5-7′ W 4′
Leaf and Stem shape: Delicately-flavoured young spears grow into airy, feathery foliage
Flower: Small white or pinkish flowers followed by red berries
Maintenance: Apply compost annually, harvest in spring, cut new shoots to ground, continue cutting back new shoots as they grow up, leave shoots thinner than a pencil to allow the roots feed themselves
Landscape use: Vegetable garden, estuary planting
Propagate: By seed and division
Pests & Disease: Generally healthy
*Deer may or may not eat them, the new shoots come up at a time when there is lots of other good stuff so they might be left alone
Comments: Edible young shoots, buy male plants as females tend to seed about
Vancouver Island Grows 