Species · genus Asparagus · Asparagaceae

Asparagus

Asparagus officinalis L.

Also known as: Garden Asparagus · Sparrow Grass

Growth habit

perennial

Native range

Afghanistan, Albania, Altay, Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Corse, Czechia-Slovakia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Kazakhstan, Krasnoyarsk, Krym, Lebanon-Syria, Mongolia, North Caucasus, Pakistan, Poland, Sicilia, South European Russia, Switzerland, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine, West Siberia, Xinjiang

Reference · A. officinalis

Cultivars of A. officinalis

The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.

No named cultivars catalogued under A. officinalis yet. When growers document a stable, named form, it earns its own page here.

Guide

The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.

Asparagus officinalis is a hardy temperate perennial from open, often sandy ground across Europe and central Asia, with a fleshy storage rootstock that resents standing water. Give it bright light and let the top inch of mix dry before watering again, then water deeply. Its rooting habit favors free-draining soil and a season of cooler dormancy.

Care recipe

The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.

Care notes are early — not yet verified

Light: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Water: ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 7-14d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Bright, indirect

Water

≈ every 14 days

Humidity

Medium

Temperature

10–24 °C

Soil mix

Rich, deep, well-draining soil

Propagation

Crown division or seed

Fertilizing

Feed generously in spring as spears emerge

Growth rate

Moderate

Flowering

Small bell-shaped greenish flowers; primarily a garden edible, tricky indoors

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Toxic to cats & dogs

Asparagaceae: mature red berries contain saponins that can cause gastrointestinal upset; foliage contact may irritate. This is where toxicity lives: every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.

Reference images

Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.

No reference gallery yet

A few clear photos — habit, a mature leaf, a flower if it blooms — would give this page its eyes.

Add images

Sources: ai:claude-opus-4-8 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 7-14d) · ai:claude-fable-5 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (family inference)

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Asparagus yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — is exactly what keeps this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.