8b zone asparagus

I'm in the Bryan area and wondering what kind of asparagus grows best in this area and if anyone else is growing it?

Gypsy,

I had wild asparagus in my yard in Austin, it was tasty. I am pretty sure there are only a couple varieties that are common/available. You might try seed if you can't find crowns to plant.

Look here for vendors http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/89511/

Thank you very much Dale the Gardener :) Austin is one of favorite haunts, hope you don't miss it too much. Thanks for the info!

I have Martha Washington and it has taken full sun, little irrigation very well. I want to put in some more this year and thinking of using Jersey Giant. Both are recommended by by A&M for growing in Texas.

Thank you from a fellow rose enthusiast :) I'm looking for crowns now!

Around here the big box store start carrying the crowns in Jan-Feb, usually the Martha Washingtons. I'm going to get my Jersey Giants at Bob Well's Nursery, because they're local. They do have mail order, but I think there's a minimum purchase, tho it could just apply to their trees. I'm going by there Saturday, if you have any questions you'd like me to ask, jlmk.

I just asked about this on the vegetable forum!!! I'm glad to know there are those who sell the sets in January; the mailorder folks (territorial and johnny's) don't ship until April.

Hey Brig, I just saw that too! You might try calling feed stores too. I've never seen them there, but I've never really been looking for them there either :0)

Jan. is when I should plant potatoes as well; I can probably find those easily enough.

What kind are you planting? I did white potatoes this year and hated every minute of it.LOL I may be tempted again by some of the fancy little purple and blues, but the plain ole' bakers will be store bought from now on.lol

I PLAN to do Yukon golds. This is not an area famous for growing spuds. I had good success with sweet potatoes this past year, and will DEFINITELY do them again.

Just stumbled across this thread. I love sweet potatoes and would be interested in trying them. Do you think they would grow in pots?

I hope Farmerdill will chime in on this one. I grew them in a 2 x 6 raised bed from slips. They did not grow all that deep, but they seemed to need the horizontal room (that could be because the ground below the bed was hard-packed builder's sand that I'm trying to amend by gardening). I'd guess they'd do fine in a really big pot.

lowellsf, I remember someone else had that very thing on the veggie forum. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/918814/

Brig, your back in the Texas forum, I don't think Famerdill posts here.lol

Thanks, cocoa_lulu. I read that thread and it sounds like they need room to grow and do better planted in the ground.

Sarah

Yes to the feed store... you will find seed potatoes there and you might find asparagus crowns there too. I've seen them in the past. There might not be variety on seed taters tho. I planted mine in oak leaves last year. Just a small patch and they did good. I needed to provide more moisture in the heat of summer but just harvested the last of them after Saturdays frost. They were tasty. Growing in oak leaves prevents them from tasting like dirt. Will do that again.

Pod, I know how fond of fragrant flowers you are. Fess up, do you like hanging out in the feed store because the way it smells in there. I do :0)

Feed stores order what they think u want, request early enough n they may just have them when they become available if they believe enuff ppl want them

Yep, I love the different odors in a feed store. Brings back many a childhood memory. I love lumber yards too. The smell of fresh cut wood is wonderful! I like to poke around in feed stores. I always can find some unusual things there. If DH and I visit a bigger town and he hits hobby lobby (model stuff) and I go to Tractor Supply. How is that for wierd... LOL

I love TSC! I could meander around in there the way most women can meander around Macy's. When I was a kid, one uncle had a farm and one ran the local feed store (tiny Missouri town) and I guess it's the smell of the feed. I love that smell.

I would gladly go shopping with either of you :0) I can't stop in TSC without getting a bag of sesame sticks. They're my guilty pleasure and sooo good in a spinach salad.

They have some great pretzels, I'll have to sample the sesame sticks.

My regular purchase is Nutro Senior dog food. It has glucosamine chondroiton and is made with better ingredients than most commercial dog foods. At least that is how I validate a regular TSC visit! LOL

I agree, I could shop around those stores for hours ~ like everything about them! Except why don't they keep plants, only vegetable seeds at our local stores.

This thread has already gone way off topic....so I will contribute to the mess. lol!!
Podster....Childhood memories indeed. I use to ride to the feed store in the back of a pickup; with the anticipation that kids now days get when going to the mall shopping. The smell of the feed sacks as I got to pick out the color of my next dress. Getting a whole case of chocolate drink or cream soda. Back at the barn the corn in feed barrels felt cool on bare feet as we pretended they were quicksand.
Haven't thought about that smell in way too long. lol!

Amazing the childhood memories smells can trigger.

Stretching back to the original thread, as a child, in spring we used to pick wild asparagus. DM always admonished us to leave some for seed and later in summer I loved to see the feathery fronds of the blooming asparagus. We only ate it in springtime and I find myself craving it every spring.

I used to play in a relatives grain barn, pretending it was quicksand.lol I don't remember what type of grain it was, just that after a period of time I'd be begging for a bath because I'd itch soooo bad, good fun.lol


I stopped yesterday to see about the Jersey Giant asparagus. They said they would not be dug and available till Dec, but I could plant them any time while dormant. The gentleman helping me was also quite surprised I had my asparagus in full sun. He said it's best in Texas for them to be planted in half day sun. He said mine are probably established and going to be o.k. I already have two beds. Now I have to decide if I add the Jersey Giants if I'm going add another bed, I may just forget about adding more.

Well, I finally found Park's would ship Jersey Giant out in January. Not my very favorite place to order, but they send out by zone, so at least I'll have asparagus.

I don't mean to imply I don't like Park's. For certain things, they're great.

Has anyone tried growing asparagus from seed? Maybe winter sowing? Pinetree Garden Seeds just sent out 2009 seed catalog. They are listing Mary Washington, which I've always wanted to try as it is said to be more vigorous and an earlier producer than Martha Washington. Some say the Mary and Martha Washington are the same but now the general consensus is that they are not the same. Should I try it or would it be just easier to keep looking for crowns? I looks like Seeds of Chage will ship crowns at the correct time for Texas--but no Mary Washington.

I know that seeds take at least three years to produce. Crowns are definately a better deal. I was able to buy crowns at the feed store, and also at the home and garden show here in Houston.

Hope this helps.
Annette

Thank you Annette_M.