This morning I noticed a few bright red (beautiful) berries on some
asparagus ferns.

I know I've read something, somewhere about this but can't remember what was
said.

Do I leave them on, remove them or just cut down the whole ferns?

TIA

Mary

"Mary Fisher" wrote:

This morning I noticed a few bright red (beautiful) berries on some
asparagus ferns.

That means you have some girl asparagii, and they're with child.
You can smush the ripe berries and wash the black seeds inside to plant if
you want to produce more plants.


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

"Gary Woods" wrote in message
...
"Mary Fisher" wrote:

This morning I noticed a few bright red (beautiful) berries on some
asparagus ferns.

That means you have some girl asparagii, and they're with child.

Oh no! I didn't know things like that went on in our garden :-)

You can smush the ripe berries and wash the black seeds inside to plant if
you want to produce more plants.

I don't, but thanks for the tip. There's no more room in my small asparagus
bed, if anything it's already overcrowded.

Mary

On Tue, 11 Sep 2007 14:36:08 +0100, "Mary Fisher"
wrote:


"Gary Woods" wrote in message
.. .
"Mary Fisher" wrote:

This morning I noticed a few bright red (beautiful) berries on some
asparagus ferns.

That means you have some girl asparagii, and they're with child.

Oh no! I didn't know things like that went on in our garden :-)

You can smush the ripe berries and wash the black seeds inside to plant if
you want to produce more plants.

I don't, but thanks for the tip. There's no more room in my small asparagus
bed, if anything it's already overcrowded.

Mary



You could pass it on to your neighbours maybe?
we've got a neighbour who never refuses any plants including a ripped
up apple tree someone left in an alley and she nursed it back to
health.
--
http://www.orderonlinepickupinstore.co.uk
Ah fetch it yourself if you can't wait for delivery
http://www.freedeliveryuk.co.uk
Or get it delivered for free

"Mogga" wrote in message
...

You could pass it on to your neighbours maybe?
we've got a neighbour who never refuses any plants including a ripped
up apple tree someone left in an alley and she nursed it back to
health.

I wish our neighbours were like that!

They either prefer to do no gardening at all or grow flowers. Next door's do
grow pears, runner beans, onions, tomatoes and something I've forgotten but
they never eat them. And they don't give them away either, just leave them
to rot.

There's nowt so queer as folks!

Mary

Just leave them alone. Most likely the birds will spread them for you, and
you wont get blamed.

Dwayne

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
t...
This morning I noticed a few bright red (beautiful) berries on some
asparagus ferns.

I know I've read something, somewhere about this but can't remember what
was said.

Do I leave them on, remove them or just cut down the whole ferns?

TIA

Mary

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
t...
This morning I noticed a few bright red (beautiful) berries on some
asparagus ferns.

I know I've read something, somewhere about this but can't remember what
was said.

Do I leave them on, remove them or just cut down the whole ferns?

TIA

Mary

_______________________________________



Hi Mary,



Asparagus plants are either male or female and both produce flowers. The
male flowers pollinate those on the female, which then grow into berries.



Because the female plant uses up a lot of energy in producing the berries,
it is also not as healthy, doesn't live as long, and produces fewer spears
than a male (up to a third fewer).



It's best not to allow the berries to fall on the ground mainly for two
reasons; the first being that they will sprout to form new plants and cause
overcrowding. However, these can be removed when weeding, as necessary.



The second reason is a fungus, called "fusarium wilt", which will kill
asparagus and can spread from the mother plant, via the seeds, into the
soil, producing red streaks at the base of the shoots before the inner root
tissue collapses. How likely this is, I don't know!



The RHS advises that you remove any female plants and yet you can buy both
female and male crowns.



Growers are working on producing all-male varieties to benefit from the
better harvest and there are several on the market at the moment,
including - Jersey Giant, Jersey Prince, and Jersey Knight.



How do I know all this? I'm no expert but I have a bed of about twenty
asparagus ferns, out of which three are covered with berries. One gardening
book said, "Never let the berries fall on the soil" but didn't give a
reason. None of my other gardening books mentioned the berries, so, I've
spent hours, over the past weeks, reading, asking questions, and searching
the Internet trying to find out why. I only managed, from many sources, to
piece the story together yesterday.



I like to know the full story and hate being told to this or don't do that
without being given a good reason why. If I know why, I can make my own
judgements in future.



I hope this helps.



Best regards



John

On Wed, 12 Sep 2007 John Vanini wrote:

I like to know the full story and hate being told to this or don't do that
without being given a good reason why. If I know why, I can make my own
judgements in future.

I quite agree! But this was a failing of the head gardeners and garden
writers of yesteryear which is why we had a generation of people who
followed the advice that they had been given without having the
slightest idea why. And then people said that they must be right because
they had been taught by such-and-such a person - and so the ignorance
continued.

I remember the same thing when I was a child. If I asked why something
was done, it was interpreted as a challenge. "Don't ask questions. Just
DO it!"

Thank goodness times have changed.

David

--
David Rance http://www.mesnil.demon.co.uk
Fido Address: 2:252/110 writing from Caversham, Reading, UK

"John Vanini" wrote in message
...

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
t...
This morning I noticed a few bright red (beautiful) berries on some
asparagus ferns.

snip most


I hope this helps.

Thank you, John, it was very informative - and yes, helpful. Saved me from
trying to find all that conflicting stuff!

I'm genuinely grateful, your post has been saved.

Mary

"David Rance" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 12 Sep 2007 John Vanini wrote:

I like to know the full story and hate being told to this or don't do that
without being given a good reason why. If I know why, I can make my own
judgements in future.

I quite agree! But this was a failing of the head gardeners and garden
writers of yesteryear which is why we had a generation of people who
followed the advice that they had been given without having the slightest
idea why. And then people said that they must be right because they had
been taught by such-and-such a person - and so the ignorance continued.


Same old story in Industry when a new starter arrives, "Sit with Tom, Dick,
Harry, Agnes, Flo, they will show you" Yes bad habits as well :-(

Mike


--
www.rneba.org.uk for the latest pictures of the very first reunion and
Inaugural General Meeting. Nothing less than a fantastic success.
The Royal Naval Electrical Branch Association.
'THE' Association if you served in the Electrical Branch of the Royal Navy
www.rneba.org.uk to find your ex-Greenie mess mates
www.iowtours.com for all ex-Service Reunions. More being added regularly
"Navy Days" Portsmouth 25th - 27th July 2008. RN Shipmates will have a Stand

"David Rance" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 12 Sep 2007 John Vanini wrote:

I remember the same thing when I was a child. If I asked why something was
done, it was interpreted as a challenge. "Don't ask questions. Just DO
it!"

Thank goodness times have changed.

In my experience they haven't, much. I'm always regarded as being
challenging when I ask why or for evidence.

Mary

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
t...

"David Rance" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 12 Sep 2007 John Vanini wrote:

I remember the same thing when I was a child. If I asked why something
was done, it was interpreted as a challenge. "Don't ask questions. Just
DO it!"

Thank goodness times have changed.

In my experience they haven't, much. I'm always regarded as being
challenging when I ask why or for evidence.

Mary



AH! But you can have too much product knowledge :-((

Percy Whiting in his great book "The Five Great Rules of Selling" gives a
wonderful example of this of where a Salesman was losing accounts when he
learnt too much of how a thing worked and bored the pants of his prospective
customers instead of just what it did!! What will it do for me? Is all that
is wanted in selling!! Well,....... almost ;-)

Mike


--
www.rneba.org.uk for the latest pictures of the very first reunion and
Inaugural General Meeting. Nothing less than a fantastic success.
The Royal Naval Electrical Branch Association.
'THE' Association if you served in the Electrical Branch of the Royal Navy
www.rneba.org.uk to find your ex-Greenie mess mates
www.iowtours.com for all ex-Service Reunions. More being added regularly
"Navy Days" Portsmouth 25th - 27th July 2008. RN Shipmates will have a Stand

AH! But you can have too much product knowledge :-((

Percy Whiting in his great book "The Five Great Rules of Selling" gives a
wonderful example of this of where a Salesman was losing accounts when he
learnt too much of how a thing worked and bored the pants of his
prospective customers instead of just what it did!! What will it do for
me? Is all that is wanted in selling!! Well,....... almost ;-)

Mike

A timely reminder! Years ago on a marketing course I was taught to sell
"benefits" not "features". However, it is so easy to slip into the trap you
mentioned. I was just thinking about a website I am going to design,
promoting some software I'd written recently. The problem being of course my
detailed knowledge about all the wonderful details of how the software works
and all it's technical features. The design I had in mind would have "bored
the pants off prospective customers" instead of teasing them to buy because
of "what it can do for them".

David.

"David (Normandy)" wrote in message
...
AH! But you can have too much product knowledge :-((

Percy Whiting in his great book "The Five Great Rules of Selling" gives a
wonderful example of this of where a Salesman was losing accounts when he
learnt too much of how a thing worked and bored the pants of his
prospective customers instead of just what it did!! What will it do for
me? Is all that is wanted in selling!! Well,....... almost ;-)

Mike

A timely reminder! Years ago on a marketing course I was taught to sell
"benefits" not "features". However, it is so easy to slip into the trap
you mentioned. I was just thinking about a website I am going to design,
promoting some software I'd written recently. The problem being of course
my detailed knowledge about all the wonderful details of how the software
works and all it's technical features. The design I had in mind would have
"bored the pants off prospective customers" instead of teasing them to buy
because of "what it can do for them".

David.


I was at the Ideal Home Exhibition in Bournemouth a couple of weekends ago
and was interested in the Solar Panels for the roof. I am afraid the
salesmen were too technical on how the things were made to tell me the
advantages!!!

I have been asked by an MD to design a sales Course and give the Sales Team
a series of 'talks' to motivate :-))

Mike


--
www.rneba.org.uk for the latest pictures of the very first reunion and
Inaugural General Meeting. Nothing less than a fantastic success.
The Royal Naval Electrical Branch Association.
'THE' Association if you served in the Electrical Branch of the Royal Navy
www.rneba.org.uk to find your ex-Greenie mess mates
www.iowtours.com for all ex-Service Reunions. More being added regularly
"Navy Days" Portsmouth 25th - 27th July 2008. RN Shipmates will have a Stand

In article ,
"'Mike'" writes:
|
| I was at the Ideal Home Exhibition in Bournemouth a couple of weekends ago
| and was interested in the Solar Panels for the roof. I am afraid the
| salesmen were too technical on how the things were made to tell me the
| advantages!!!

Sorry, but what you say is a recipe for fraud. When customers are too
stupid or ignorant to know when they are being flagrantly lied to, the
advantages are all with the sharks that do just that.

God help me, that is also why it is so hard to buy functional equipment
for many purposes, and why we get the politicians we deserve.

I utterly loathe salesdroids who claim to be technically competent
when it is clear that I have forgotten more than they will ever learn,
in an area that isn't even one of the ones where I claim much expertise.
Unfortunately, with the current dumbing down of everything, this is
becoming more common and even worse.

God help me, most of the so-called technical advisors of solar panel
companies don't seem to know EVEN the difference between the solar
constant, the average UK per diem insolation, its annual variation
and the potential power deliverable in electricity. They should be
required to pedal a rusty bicycle generator, stark naked, on a sunny
day on the top of Kilimanjaro until they have generated a kilowatt-
hour to teach them!

http://www.elise.com/quotes/a/heinle...or_insects.php


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.