Ornamental asparagus – not a fern

While you can’t successfully grow edible asparagus in Southwest Florida due to our overly warm and wet climate, you can grow a number of ornamental types that make great container plants for patios, indoors as houseplants, or in some cases, as a groundcover. 

Ornamental asparagus are often labeled as ”ferns” due to their sprays of fern-like foliage.  These plants are not true ferns, but do have fine, leaf-like branchlets called cladophylls which give them their unique ornamental fern-like quality.   Located on their woody, wiry stems, the hardly noticeable true leaves are scale-like in appearance.  Ornamental asparagus also have small spines on their stems so watch how you handle them.  Small white or pink flowers are followed by red or orange inedible fruit.  Birds enjoy the fruit and tend to spread the seeds around. 

Probably the most common ornamental asparagus available is Asparagus aethiopicus, also known as  Sprenger's Asparagus Fern – you can find it in nearly every garden center.   A friendly warning - Sprenger's Asparagus Fern is considered a Category I invasive plant by Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council.  This ornamental asparagus plant has escaped cultivation and is in natural areas in Florida where it is displacing native species.  Both seeds and tubers help propagate this plant in places it should not be found.  I have seen it naturalized in multiple places in Charlotte County.  While not recommended, if you keep this asparagus plant, maintain it in containers only (not in the ground) and under your watchful eye. 

Myers Asparagus Fern, commonly called the foxtail fern, is a cultivar of A. densiflorus named after its similarity to a fluffy, plume-like tail.  This asparagus is a beautiful perennial plant suitable for containers, as a houseplant, or as a groundcover.  The foxtail asparagus can be easily divided and propagated from time to time if it outgrows its space. 

Perhaps my favorite ornamental asparagus is the one called Ming or Asparagus retrofractus.  The full, deep-green cladophylls remind you of miniature pine trees.  The leaf-like cladophylls almost appear as mini pompoms which bring a special attractiveness to this less common plant.

A final type of ornamental asparagus that you may find in garden centers as a houseplant is the Asparagus setaceus, commonly known as Lace Fern or Climbing Asparagus. The asparagus has very fine and lacey cladophylls on vine-like stems.  I would keep this one in a container as it is likely to get out of control when planted in the landscape.  There are a few cultivars available which have dwarf forms or more upright growth habits. 

Grow your ornamental asparagus in full sun to part shade in a well-drained soil for best results.  They are fairly drought tolerant so do not overwater.  Besides being featured as an attractive foliage plant, many ornamental asparagus are also used as cut foliage in floral arrangements, boutonnieres and corsages.    

Ornamental asparagus are elegant, easy-to-grow plants.  Just keep them under your control and don’t let them accidentally escape!  For more information on all types of plants suitable for our area, please call our Master Gardener volunteers on the Plant Lifeline on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 1 to 4 pm at 764-4340 for gardening help and insight into their role as an Extension volunteer.  Don't forget to visit our other County Plant Clinics in the area.  Please check this link for a complete list of site locations, dates and times - http://charlotte.ifas.ufl.edu/horticulture/Plant%20Clinics%20Schedule.pdf.

Resources:

Rogers, G. K. (2013) Landscape Plants for South Florida – A Manual for Gardeners, Landscapers and Homeowners Sprenger’s Asparagus “Fern,” Foxtail “Fern” – Palm Beach State College.

Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council ’s 2015 List of Invasive Plant Species - http://www.fleppc.org/list/2015FLEPPCLIST-LARGEFORMAT-FINAL.pdf

Mueller, C. W. (2008) Asparagus Ferns (Asparagus species). Texas AgriLife Extension Service Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.

Asparagus setaceus - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asparagus_setaceus.

Christman, S. (2000) Protasparagus setaceus . Floridata.com, Tallahassee, Florida.

Scheper,  J. (2007) Protasparagus densiflorus.  Floridata.com, Tallahassee, Florida.

Gilman, E. F. (2011) Asparagus densiflorus 'Sprengeri' Sprengeri Asparagus Fern.  The University of Florida Extension Service, IFAS.

Gil, D. (2009) Consider growing asparagus ferns.  LSUAgCenter.com