Mary Washington Asparagus Crowns – Heirloom Perennial Vegetable – 20 Two-Year-Old Bare Roots

Overview

Transform your garden into a culinary haven with our premium Mary Washington Asparagus crowns. This offering includes 20 vigorous, two-year-old bare root crowns, perfect for establishing a thriving asparagus bed. Revered for its tender, thick spears and exceptional flavor, Mary Washington is an heirloom variety that has been a garden favorite for generations. As a perennial vegetable, these asparagus plants will return year after year, providing a bountiful harvest for two decades or more once established. Investing in these two-year-old crowns means you’re planting a long-term food source that combines ease of cultivation with gourmet taste. Get ready to enjoy fresh, homegrown asparagus right from your backyard, a true delight for any home chef or gardener.

Growing heirloom asparagus plants like the Mary Washington variety not only offers superior flavor but also contributes to biodiversity, preserving classic garden staples. These robust bare roots are carefully selected to ensure strong growth and high yields, making them an excellent choice for both novice and experienced gardeners. Prepare for a rewarding gardening experience and countless delicious meals with this foundational perennial crop.

Key Benefits

Our Mary Washington Asparagus crowns offer numerous advantages, making them an exceptional addition to any home garden:

• Long-Term Production: Once established, these perennial plants can produce delicious asparagus spears for 20 years or more, offering a continuous harvest season after season. This makes them a highly sustainable and cost-effective vegetable choice.
• Superior Flavor: The Mary Washington variety is renowned for its tender, thick, and flavorful spears, often considered superior in taste to store-bought asparagus. Enjoy a truly gourmet experience right from your garden.
• Heirloom Quality: As an heirloom variety, these crowns provide a taste of gardening history. They are open-pollinated, ensuring consistent quality and allowing you to save seeds if desired (though asparagus is typically grown from crowns for faster establishment).
• Early Harvest Potential: By planting two-year-old crowns, you significantly reduce the time until your first harvest. While patience is key for the first year, you can typically begin light harvesting in the second year after planting.
• Nutrient-Rich Vegetable: Asparagus is packed with vitamins (A, C, E, K), folate, and antioxidants, making it a healthy and delicious addition to your diet. Growing your own ensures maximum freshness and nutritional value.
• Easy to Grow: Despite its gourmet status, asparagus is relatively low-maintenance once established. It thrives in well-prepared soil and full sun, requiring minimal ongoing care beyond weeding and mulching.
• Beautiful Garden Addition: Beyond its culinary benefits, the feathery foliage of mature asparagus plants adds an attractive, fern-like texture to the garden, especially after the harvesting season.

Plant Care & Growing Tips

Successfully growing Mary Washington Asparagus crowns requires proper site selection and initial preparation. Choose a permanent location in your garden that receives full sun to part sun, ideally 6-8 hours of direct sunlight daily. Asparagus prefers well-draining, loose, and fertile soil with a pH between 6.5 and 7.0. Amend your soil generously with compost or well-rotted manure prior to planting to ensure a rich, organic foundation. Dig a trench about 6-8 inches deep and 12 inches wide. Create a small mound of soil at the bottom of the trench.

When planting your asparagus bare roots, spread the roots over the mound, ensuring the crown (the point where the roots meet the stem) is centered. Cover the crown with about 2 inches of soil, leaving the rest of the trench to be filled gradually as the plants grow. Space individual crowns about 12-18 inches apart within the trench, and if planting multiple rows, space rows 3-5 feet apart. Water thoroughly after planting. During the first growing season, allow the ferns to grow freely without harvesting any spears. This allows the plants to establish a strong root system, which is crucial for future productivity. Keep the bed free of weeds, as they compete for nutrients and moisture.

After the first frost, the ferny tops will turn yellow or brown. Cut them back to about 2 inches above the ground. Apply a layer of mulch (straw, leaves, or wood chips) to help protect the crowns during winter and suppress weeds. In subsequent years, you can begin harvesting when spears are 6-10 inches tall and about the thickness of your finger. Snap or cut them off at ground level. Stop harvesting when spears become thin, usually by late June. Continue to allow the ferns to grow and photosynthesize for the remainder of the season, which is vital for storing energy for the next year’s crop. Regular feeding with a balanced fertilizer in early spring can also boost productivity for your perennial asparagus patch.

Size & Details

This offering includes a bundle of 20 Mary Washington Asparagus crowns, each being two years old. These crowns are shipped as bare roots, meaning they are dormant and ready for immediate planting upon arrival. Planting two-year-old crowns provides a significant head start compared to planting one-year-old crowns or seeds, allowing for a quicker establishment and potentially a light harvest in the second year after planting. Each crown will develop into a robust plant, with mature ferns reaching heights of 3-5 feet during the growing season. The spears themselves, when harvested, typically grow to 6-10 inches in length before thickening. Asparagus plants have a long lifespan, often producing for 20 years or more with proper care, making them an excellent long-term investment for your garden.

The mature spread of an individual asparagus plant can be up to 1-2 feet, so adequate spacing is crucial for optimal growth and air circulation. The bare root form ensures easy handling and planting, as well as minimizing transplant shock. These crowns are ideal for creating a productive and long-lasting asparagus bed that will yield delicious harvests for many seasons to come. You’ll be delighted by the quality and quantity of spears produced by these well-established crowns.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Q: How big do these Mary Washington Asparagus crowns get? A: These are two-year-old bare root crowns. Once planted, the ferny foliage can reach 3-5 feet tall during the growing season. The harvested spears are typically 6-10 inches long.
• Q: Is this an indoor or outdoor plant? A: Asparagus is an outdoor perennial vegetable that requires a permanent spot in your garden. It thrives in full sun to part sun conditions.
• Q: How much sunlight does Mary Washington Asparagus need? A: For optimal growth and spear production, Mary Washington Asparagus crowns require at least 6-8 hours of direct sunlight per day, making full sun ideal.
• Q: Is this plant easy to care for? Is it good for beginners? A: Asparagus is relatively easy to care for once established. The initial trench preparation and patience during the first year are the main requirements, making it suitable for determined beginners.
• Q: What condition will the asparagus arrive in? A: The asparagus bare roots will arrive dormant and ready for planting. They are carefully packaged to ensure they are in good condition for transit.
• Q: When is the best time to plant these asparagus crowns? A: The best time to plant asparagus crowns is in early spring, after the last hard frost, when the soil has become workable.
• Q: How long until I can harvest my perennial asparagus? A: You should not harvest any spears in the first year after planting to allow the plants to establish. You can begin a light harvest in the second year, and full production typically starts in the third year.
• Q: Will Mary Washington Asparagus survive winter in my zone? A: Mary Washington Asparagus is very hardy and can survive cold winters. It is suitable for a wide range of USDA zones, typically 3-10, with proper winter mulching in colder regions.
• Q: What is the ideal soil type for growing Mary Washington Asparagus? A: Growing Mary Washington asparagus thrives in well-draining, loose, and fertile soil with a slightly acidic to neutral pH (6.5-7.0). Amending with organic matter is highly beneficial.
• Q: How far apart should I plant the asparagus crowns? A: Space individual crowns about 12-18 inches apart within the trench. If planting multiple rows, ensure rows are 3-5 feet apart to allow for mature growth and harvesting access.