I got busy and didn't plant my 4" potted asparagus plants
bought from my local nursery... They dried up until all the green
turned brown. Are they history or can I cut them down and plant them
anyway? Thank alot!

Kevin Miller
Zone 5

writes:

I got busy and didn't plant my 4" potted asparagus plants
bought from my local nursery... They dried up until all the green
turned brown. Are they history or can I cut them down and plant them
anyway? Thank alot!

Kevin,

When in doubt, plant it. One thing for certain, it won't grow if you
don't plant it.

I've planted many things I thought didn't have a chance, and moved some
things from one house to the other that people said wouldn't live, but
it's amazing what those plants can do. The instinct for survival is the
strongest of all; just look at the grass/weeds growing in asphalt and
concrete and even an occasional flower.

In 1989, we moved a rhododendron plant from my long-time home to another
house. It did okay, but not exceptionally well. In the fall of 1999, we
moved it from that house to my new home (new to me) and planted it in
front by the fish pond. It didn't do very well there at all and looked
like it would surely die, and last spring I moved it to the back yard
where it is managing to recover some of its setback from being in front.
The amazing thing about this plant, despite the moving which is absolutely
not good for rhodies (surface feeders), is that in the roots of it were
some bluebell plants which had not been visible (growing/blooming) since
1989. Last spring after it was moved into the back yard here, that
bluebell plant sprung up and is beautiful. Who would have guessed that it
would have lay dormant for 13 years.

Another rhodie we moved was not doing well at the last house (planted
there many years before). When we moved it, I had the operator plant it
at the back fence line here thinking it wouldn't live, but told him to
plant it so it'd at least have a chance (it would have been cut to the
ground by the new owners of the old house). Last spring, it had
definitely recovered and I moved it up with the others in the grouping
where the new fish pond will eventually go; it was beautiful this spring
and it sure didn't look like it would make it even if it hadn't been moved
to here.

Many times I've taken a broken tomato branch and put it in water to have
it root, planted it and had a bearing tomato plant. Will it work every
time? Probably not, probably not even most of the time, but if it doesn't
have the chance, it sure won't live.

What do you have to lose by planting it? Even it you had planted it, it
would have likely have dried and turned brown so it might be right on
schedule even though it didn't get the care it wanted. You won't see any
sign of life until next spring, and then it might only be a scant spear or
two. Asparagus takes years to get firmly established. Give the poor
thing a chance; plant it. (And please let us know if it makes it.)

Glenna