Fothergill's RHS Asparagus Connover's Colossal Seeds

Details:

• Botanical Name: Asparagus officinalis 'Connover\'s Colossal', an elite, highly uniform open-pollinated heritage cultivar.
• Plant Class: Hardy Perennial, establishing a permanent, deeply anchored root system that returns year after year, growing more productive and robust with age.
• Thick Succulent Spears: Bears an abundance of exceptionally large, thick, and tender bright green spears tipped with distinctive deep purple buds. The texture is intensely crisp and entirely free from stringiness when harvested fresh.
• World-Class Flavour Profile: Widely considered the gold standard of asparagus flavour; it boasts a rich, sweet, and nutty gourmet taste that far outclasses anything bought from a supermarket shelf. It is at its absolute best when lightly steamed, griddled, or roasted with butter.
• Dual-Purpose Ornamental Fern: Once the spring harvest window closes, the plants transform into highly attractive, towering, and airy clouds of bright green, feathery summer foliage reaching 100–150cm (3–5ft) tall. This decorative canopy acts as a major nectar source for local honeybees and bumblebees.
• The Ultimate Long-Term Plot Asset: A true crown jewel for dedicated kitchen gardens, allotments, and perennial vegetable borders, offering decades of luxurious crops from a single, patient investment.
• Optimal Position: Thrives at its absolute best when positioned in Full Sun in a warm, sheltered site with highly fertile, deep, and meticulously well-drained soil.

Care Instructions:

• Sowing Position: Start seeds early indoors from February to March to give them a head start. Soak seeds in warm water for a few hours before sowing 2cm deep into individual compost modules. Maintain a warm indoor temperature of 13–21°C for germination (takes 2 to 8 weeks). Alternatively, sow directly outdoors into a prepared nursery bed in March or April.
• Nursery Bed to Final Spacing: Grow the young seedlings on in a bright, weed-free area through their first summer. The following spring (March to April), transplant the one-year-old young crowns to their final, permanent home. Dig trenches 20cm deep and 30cm wide, create a central ridge of soil, and drape the roots carefully over the ridge. Space individual plants 30–45cm apart, allowing 90cm between rows.
• The Virtue of Patience: To ensure your asparagus bed lasts for decades, do not harvest any spears during the first two years of the plant's life. Allow all emerging shoots to grow fully into tall, feathery summer ferns—this vital process feeds the underground crowns and builds up immense energy reserves.
• Harvesting & Autumn Care: From year three onwards, you can harvest lightly for 2 to 3 weeks, and from year four, enjoy a full 6 to 8 week harvest from mid-April until mid-June. Cut spears with a sharp knife 2.5cm below the soil surface when they reach 15–18cm tall. Always cease all harvesting by mid-June to let the plant recover. Each autumn, once the feathery foliage turns yellow, cut the stems down to 10cm above ground level and mulch the bed generously with well-rotted compost. Keep the bed scrupulously weed-free.