previous
  • Pretty in Pink
    Pretty in Pink
  • Thoughts From a Foreign Field
    Thoughts From a Foreign Field
  • Save Money by Growing Your Own
    Save Money by Growing Your Own
  • Comfortable Alfresco Dining
    Comfortable Alfresco Dining
  • Building a Compost Bin
    Building a Compost Bin
  • 6 Tips for Weed Control
    6 Tips for Weed Control
  • Colorful Selections for Shade
    Colorful Selections for Shade
  • Lawn Alternatives
    Lawn Alternatives
  • Fast-Growing Trees for Impatient Gardeners
    Fast-Growing Trees for Impatient Gardeners
  • Containers as Focal Points
    Containers as Focal Points
  • Dwarf Citrus Trees
    Dwarf Citrus Trees
  • Stylish Shady Containers
    Stylish Shady Containers
  • NEW Video Series: There's a Better Way
    NEW Video Series: There's a Better Way
  • In Pursuit of the Perfect Potting Shed
    In Pursuit of the Perfect Potting Shed
  • Homegrown / Homemade
    Homegrown / Homemade
  • Garden Confidential: A Plant Walks into a Bar
    Garden Confidential: A Plant Walks into a Bar
  • Elephant's Ears
    Elephant's Ears
  • Make a Succulent Topiary
    Make a Succulent Topiary
  • Fragrant Plants for Pathways
    Fragrant Plants for Pathways
  • Indeterminate or Determinate Tomatoes?
    Indeterminate or Determinate Tomatoes?
  • Plant an Easy-to-Water Strawberry Jar
    Plant an Easy-to-Water Strawberry Jar
  • Mulch for a Healthy Garden
    Mulch for a Healthy Garden
  • Designing with Curved Terraces
    Designing with Curved Terraces
  • Slideshow: Beautiful Clematis
    Slideshow: Beautiful Clematis
  • Plants that Spark!
    Plants that Spark!
next
Find a plant:

OR Browse All Plants


Asparagus officinalis (Asparagus)

Asparagus officinalis Photo/Illustration: Michelle Gervais


Be the first to rate this plant

Plant Showcase - from our advertisers


Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Botanical Name: Asparagus officinalis ah-SPARE-ah-gus oh-fi-shi-NAH-lis Common Name: Asparagus Genus: Asparagus
Asparagus is a perennial vegetable whose edible shoots are harvested in spring. Male plants produce better crop yields because they do not flower or fruit. The foliage is garden worthy because of its tall size and masses of feathery, delicate texture. Female plants may self-seed abundantly. Plants do not like to be moved, so choose a permanent location. Foliage is useful in floral arrangements.
 Noteworthy characteristics: The feathery, fernlike masses of the mature stems made a good backdrop for bedding plants.
 Care: Choose a sheltered site in partial shade with fertile, moist but well-drained soil.
 Propagation: Sow seed at 61°F in autumn or early spring.
 Problems: Fusarium crown rot and Helminthosporium and Cercospora leaf spots are common. Rust, anthracnose, and canker occur. Slugs, spider mites, and aphids are also problems.
Height 1 ft. to 3 ft.
Spread 3 ft. to 6 ft.
Growth Pace Moderate Grower
Light Part Shade Only
Moisture Medium Moisture
Maintenance Moderate
Characteristics Showy Foliage
Bloom Time Summer
Flower Color Green Flower; White Flower
Uses Beds and Borders
Style Vegetable Garden, Kitchen Garden, Cottage Garden
Seasonal Interest Summer Interest, Fall Interest
Type Perennials

Plants you might also like

Dicentra eximia ‘Alba’ Dicentra eximia ‘Alba’
(Fringed bleeding heart, Turkey corn) (1 user review)
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Rows of white flowers dangle above the fern-like foliage, opening in April and continuing intermittently until October.
Polemonium caeruleum Polemonium caeruleum
(Jacob’s ladder, Greek valerian) Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This North American native bears deep blue or occasionally white, bell-shaped blossoms in spring and possibly late summer if deadheaded. It grows from 1 to 3 feet tall. Use Jacob's ladder in a lightly shaded border, rock garden, woodland, or cottage garden.
Actaea simplex ‘Hillside Black Beauty’ Actaea simplex ‘Hillside Black Beauty’
(Bugbane, Autumn snakeroot, black cohosh) Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Unlike other bugbanes, 'Hillside Black Beauty' offers deep purple-black foliage. From late spring to late summer, its dark hue makes a wonderful backdrop for colorful foliage and flowering shade plants. In fall, fragrant, cream-colored flowers appear on tall, wandlike stems. An added plus: this plant is deer resistant. --Michael Ruggiero, Regional Picks: Mid-Atlantic, Fine Gardening issue #127
Tanacetum parthenium Tanacetum parthenium
(Feverfew) Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Feverfew is a short-lived, bushy perennial that has become naturalized in much of North America. It has fragrant, ferny foliage and composite white flowers with yellow centers. It is often grown as an annual. The cultivar 'Aureum' has a dwarf habit, smaller flowers, and golden aromatic foliage. Other cultivars have double flowers, yellow flowerheads, or pompom-like flowerheads.
Actaea racemosa Actaea racemosa
(Black cohosh, Black snakeroot, Bugbane) Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Actaea racemosa is a native woodland perennial with white, somewhat fuzzy flowers in midsummer that wave above astilbe-like, deeply cut foliage. The flowers can be unpleasantly scented, thus the name "bugbane." Formerly in the genus Cimicifuga, this plant is great for use in a woodland garden or moist border.