Paradise Garden

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Asparagus Varieties

by Mark Rowland

Asparagus Varieties

If you wish to produce white asparagus, you should choose a variety specifically recommended for this purpose. The widest choice is likely to be from Dutch or other European breeders where this crop is commercially important. For green asparagus most varieties will be perfectly suitable.

Open Pollinated Asparagus Varieties

Connovers Colossal - the traditional English open pollinated variety (which originated in the USA in about 1885). Reselected strains yield good sized spears, but yields cannot compete with modern asparagus hybrids.
Crimson Pacific - Aspara, New Zealand. Mid season asparagus variety producing purple spears.
Mary Washington - USA. Open pollinated variety of asparagus which is widely grown in the USA. Many reselections are available in the USA, adapted to specific areas.
Purple Pacific - Aspara, New Zealand. Moderate yield of purple spears with a sweet flavour. Good for white asparagus production. Mid season.
Purple Passion - an American selection of Violetto d'Albenga. A tetraploid asparagus giving a low yield of large spears with a high sugar content.
Violetto d'Albenga - Italy. Traditional tetraploid asparagus variety with large purple spears, but very low yield and disease prone.

Ordinary F1 Asparagus Hybrids

Apollo - C.A.S.T., USA. Mid season variety with heavy stems but only average yields.
Ariane - Spargelhochzucht Gast, Germany. An early cropping asparagus variety.
Atlas - C.A.S.T., USA. An early mid season asparagus variety with heavy spears and good disese resistance.
Dariana - Planasa, France. A mid season asparagus variety with good yields of heavy spears.
De Paoli - USA.
Eros - Italy. Mid season variety which will grow in heavier soils, medium yield.
Grande - C.A.S.T., USA. Fairly late variety with heavy stems. Good for warmer areas.
Pacific 2000 - Aspara, New Zealand. A diploid asparagus giving good yields of heavy spears with sweet flavour. Mid season.
Stewarts Purple - New Zealand. A very sweet purple asparagus variety with large spears. Mid season.

All Male (androecious) F1 Asparagus Hybrids

Backlim - Limseeds, Holland. A late variety useful for extending the season. Recommended for glasshouse production of both white and green asparagus with thick spears of good size and excellent flavour. Compact foliage.
Gijnlim - Limseeds, Holland. Early and very high yielding with spears of medium size and excellent quality. A standard variety for European commercial asparagus growers.
Grolim - Limseeds, Holland. An early variety producing a good yield of very heavy spears. Recommended for white asparagus production, and for warm areas, but sensitive to high water table.
Millennium - Guelph, Canada. Late maturing and useful for extending the asparagus season into July in the UK. Spears start to emerge two to three weeks later than other varieties, often escaping late frosts. Although well adapted to cooler areas, the excellent spear quality is maintained in hot weather.
Jersey Giant - Rutgers, USA. Moderate yield of medium to large spears. Tends to produce rather short spears at temperatures in excess of 70° F.
Jersey Knight - Rutgers, USA. A later maturing asparagus with medium to large spears. Spears tend to fern out when rather short at temperatures in excess of 70° F.
Lucullus - A later maturing variety with medium sized spears.
Marte - Istituto Sperimentale, Italy. Mid season, good yield potential.
Mondeo - Spargelhochzucht Gast, Germany. A new high yielding, disease resistant variety with a long harvest season. Good flavour, and suitable for both green and white asparagus production.
Thielim - Limseeds, Holland. Mid season variety with good yields of thick, excellent quality spears. The erect, disease resistant foliage makes this variety particularly suitable for organic cultivation.
Tiessen - Guelph, Canada. The variety of choice for growing asparagus in districts with cold winters and cool springs. In other areas it is outyielded by Millennium.

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