Garden Asparagus
Asparagus officinalis
Commonly cultivated, commonly escaped to fencerows, roadsides, disturbed areas. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
—
Not native
Not native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 76%
- Height
- 3–5 feet
- Spread
- 1.5–3 feet
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Usually moist
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At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- April to June
- Fruiting season
- July to October
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Not yet recorded · Leaves
Recorded in 95 Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Ecological relationships
Who uses this plant?
33CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA
Genus host records with ranges including VA · Asparagus
- Acronicta oblinitaSmeared Dagger
- Agrotis ipsilonIpsilon Dart, Black Cutworm, Greasy Cutworm
- Agrotis vetustaOld Man Dart
- Amorbia humerosanaWhite-Lined Leafroller Moth
- Anarta trifoliiThe Nutmeg, Clover Cutworm
- Anavitrinella pampinariaCommon Gray, Cranberry Spanworm
- Callopistria floridensisFlorida Fern Caterpillar
- Chrysodeixis includensSoybean Looper Moth
- Elasmopalpus lignosellaLesser Cornstalk Borer
- Ennomos subsignariaElm Spanworm Moth
Show all 33
- Estigmene acreaSalt Marsh Moth, Acrea Moth
- Euxoa messoriaReaper Dart, Darksided Cutworm, Dark-Sided Cutworm
- Feltia subterraneaSubterranean Dart, Granulate Cutworm
- Helicoverpa zeaCorn Earworm Moth
- Herpetogramma bipunctalisSouthern Beet Webworm, Two-Spotted Herpetogramma
- Iridopsis humariaSmall Purplish Gray
- Iridopsis larvariaBent-Line Gray
- Lacanobia subjunctaSpeckled Arches, Subdues Arches, Harnessed Mamestra, Speckled Cutworm Moth, Grand Arches?(incorrectly)
- Melanchra adjunctaHitched Arches
- Melanchra pictaPainted Arches, Zebra Caterpillar Moth
- Mythimna unipunctaArmyworm Moth, White Speck
- Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
- Platynota rostranaOmnivorous Platynota
- Platynota stultanaOmnivorous Leafroller
- Spaelotis clandestinaClandestine Dart, W-Marked Cutworm
- Sparganothis sulfureanaSparganothis Fruitworm Moth, Sulfur Leafroller, False Yellow-Head
- Spilosoma virginicaVirginian Tiger Moth, Yellow Woolybear Moth, Yellow Bear
- Spodoptera dolichosSweetpotato Armyworm, Dolichos Armyworm, Large Cotton Armyworm
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
- Spodoptera ornithogalliYellow-Striped Armyworm Moth, Cotton Cutworm
- Tolype velledaLarge Tolype, Large Lappet Moth, Vellada Lappet Moth
- Trichoplusia niNi Moth, Cabbage Looper Moth
- Trichordestra legitimaStriped Garden Caterpillar Moth
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
1BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Asparagus
- Sialia sialisEastern Bluebird
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
Growing and identification
Plant details
- Family
- Asparagaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 2a–9b
- Soil pH
- Neutral
- Flower color
- Yellow or green
- Fruit begins
- July
- Fruit ends
- October
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “April to June” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Yellow or green” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Fruit begins · “July” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “October” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Hardiness · “Zones 2a–9b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “3–5 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Minnesota Wildflowers differs)
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Moist” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil pH · “Neutral” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Spread · “1.5–3 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
Asparagus
Conservation status
| Virginia rank | SNA |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5? |
| VA status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Sources
- Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora
- USDA PLANTS
- FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- FloraQuest: Northern Tier (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications