AAAAAAAAARRGsparagus

PEEVED!!! I placed an order with Park's, which used to be a good company but I think they've diversified themselves out of the realm of reality, back on Nov. 21 for asparagus starts, having been assured I would have them in plenty of time to plant here in January. Also ordered seed trays and really got the round-about over those, and wound up cancelling the order entirely.

SO! I need asparagus starts and I NEED THEM NOW. I'm about to get out the phone book and call every nursery from here to Kountze, but if anyone knows a good, quick mailorder place, please let me know.

Thanks!

I feel for you. Good you are letting people know, so they can avoid Park's. I hate it when a company lies like that! Be sure you put that on Garden Watchdog (isn't that what it's called?). Hope somebody knows where to get it!

Just wondering if you have checked your local feed stores. Sometimes they carry things like that. I know ours usually have onion sets and the like.

Brigid, call Bob Well's Fruit and Tree Nursery in Lindale TX. I was there around November asking and I think they said the crowns would be stocked in December. If they don't ship, I can run by, get them and mail them to you.

Wow, thanks, lulu! That's mighty nice. But I'll run by a couple of feed stores this afternoon before I put you to the trouble. I'm very likely to find them. I saw onion sets at W/M, so if they're thinking about them, so are the feed stores.

It would be no trouble, I have to take my sewing machine into the shop and just been putting it off. I would be passing by Bob Wells and the P.o.

I think the feed stores should be getting them real soon. Most of our good stuff, seeds and such start in February. Did you ask WM if they had any? They sell them bare rooted in bags with the other spring bulbs, like daffs.

This is THE place to get the best asparagus...Home ran by one lady and her husband, they go right out to the field and mark off your asparagus, dig em up and package and mail right to you. Unsurpassed quality and service!

Asparagusgardener.com

http://www.asparagusgardener.com/asparagusplantforsale.html

darkmoondreamer, thanks for that site -- I bookmarked it. HOWEVER, believe it or not, WM actually had Jersey Giant asparagus plants! So thanks again, cocoa, but I did get some. Whether or not they're any good remains to be seen, of course, but now I have what I need.

They also had several varieties of onion and potato, including Yukon Gold. I'd rather buy from local feed stores or nurseries, but if WM has it and they don't, whatchagonnado? If anyone is looking, they don't have them outside with the onion sets but inside with the bulbs. Now if they'll just stock some dirt and manure I'll be golden for the spring.

Oh good, don't worry too much. Mine were from WM and I think I planted 6 bags of 6 crown and almost all survived and thrived. This will be my 'harvest' year, can't wait...I love asparagus!

Glad to hear it. I hated asparagus all my life, mainly because my mother's idea of fresh vegetables was, bless her heart, that she'd just opened the can. I was an adult when I had some fresh out of the ground, barely steamed... mmmmmm...

That was my mom, too, for the most part, but she did cook things like squash....I just didn't like it! We never had veggie salads growing up, so I was surprised to find I liked them when I finally tried salad.

Will asparagus grow this far south? I saw some crowns at Lowes (but they also sell hosta plants and those won't grow here). We don't freeze in the winter. We've had one cold spell of 42* that lasted for 36 hours and maybe 4 or 5 nights total in the upper 40's for this whole winter.

My Sunset book say's no, but your in the same zone as Houston and Beaumont...maybe a gardener in one of those areas could help. Where there's a will there is a way! :0)

Cocoa, they stick us in the same zone as Houston, but we are not at all. I found one map and I can't remember which one, that finally separated us from Houston and San Antonio. We don't freeze, rarely have frost (hasn't frosted here since 2004) and we're much cooler and less humid in summer. I have ripe tomatoes now, will plant watermelons and cantalopes in February.

Sunset zones are different from the USDA cold hardiness zones. Here is a Sunset map http://www.sunset.com/garden/climate-zones/sunset-climate-zones-texas-00400000036339/

I would think that if they don't grow there it would be because of a lack of dormancy. I don't think heat would be an issue, we get the same triple digit temps as others in the State. If your WM is selling cheap enough it may be worth experimenting growing them in pots. Pots get colder then the ground. I don't really know just thinking off the top of my head ;0)

I never thought of growing them in pots! I have lots of big 20 gallon pots that I grow vegetables in. I can't remember how much they were at Lowes. Believe it or not, Walmart hasn't gotten in their spring stuff yet!
We didn't get to 100 last summer, but further inland did. There is a constant sea breeze in the summer that keeps the coastal areas a bit cooler.

I don't understand why it wouldn't grow there: I remember going to a field in the
San Fernando Valley in California, and gathering it. I know it rarely got below 40 degrees there!

Let us know if you try pots. Podster at one time was thinking of growing them in an old clawfoot bathtub. That would have such a great cottage look to it!

Just remember wherever you plant that they will produce for more than 20 years. I would like to move my patch but afraid it will take another 2-3 years before it is ready to harvest if I mess with it.

Try Lowe's, too . . . they are starting to get their spring stuff, and I noticed at both Lowe's here in town that I went to yesterday had the Asparagus in the bins . . .

Make sure you get Jersey -- I read somewhere that is the kind that will grow here. That's what WM had, but Lowe's had something else here.

Weather/climate generalizations are dangerous. I noticed on the NOAA site that the average temperature here is 68. Nearly fell out of my chair! Come spend a summer here and let me know if you think it's mild! True, it very rarely hits 100 here, but 95, both degrees and humidity, with the sun beating down, week after week... nah.

lilly, "average" is misleading IMO. Takes all the lowest temps and adds all the highest temps and divides by "2".

Christi

I'm still trying to decide if I want to try it. I love asperagus, but don't know if I want to dedicate the space to it long term. I'll keep everyone posted.

Cala, the crowns are planted deep for asparagus, maybe a few annuals along them could make a nice display pot. If you feel like experimenting :0)

Christi, Your fears of moving them are valid. The previous owner of our house told me they used to have a large stand of asparagus for years, until the husband decided to move and kill them all...do you think he's still reminded of it. lol Probably for the best, I would have paid more for a home with existing asparagus bed;0)

I figure if I ever do sell my house I'll have to list it as "gardens for sale, 3/2/2 attached."