Planting guide

When to plant asparagus

A long-lived bed that gives spears every spring for 15 years or more. In Melbourne it goes in Aug–Nov.

Start as: Crown
Ready in: 3+ years to the first crop
Spacing: 40 cm
Depth: 15 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Some care
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means asparagus can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Melbourne	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Brisbane	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Perth	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Adelaide	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Gold Coast	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Newcastle	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Sunshine Coast	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Canberra	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Central Coast	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Geelong	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Wollongong	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Hobart	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Townsville	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Cairns	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Darwin	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Mandurah	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Bendigo	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Launceston	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Mackay	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Rockhampton	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Coffs Harbour	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Blue Mountains	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Bunbury	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Bundaberg	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Alice Springs	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Mildura	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Port Macquarie	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Wellington	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Christchurch	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
London	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Manchester	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	○	○	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	○	○	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Chicago	○	○	○	○	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Austin	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Toronto	○	○	○	○	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	○	○	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Johannesburg	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Singapore	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Mumbai	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Paris	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Berlin	○	○	○	○	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant asparagus

Prepare a deep, weed-free bed with compost.
Plant crowns 15 cm deep, covering gradually.
Do not harvest for 2 to 3 years.
Cut spears at ground level in spring; let ferns grow in summer.

Asparagus varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Mary Washington Classicheirloom · heavy-cropper · 104–143 wksThe classic green spear asparagus
UC 157 Classicheat-tolerant · heavy-cropper · 104–143 wksAll-male-ish hybrid for warm climates
Argenteuil Adventurousheirloom · 104–143 wksOld French variety with pink-tinged spears
Sweet Purple Adventurouscolourful · sweet · 104–143 wksPurple spears that taste sweet raw

Where to buy seedlings

Search on QP Seedlings Search on Amazon

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Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Tomato, Basil, Parsley

Asparagus by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Rhubarb · Globe artichoke

Not sure asparagus is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now