Responding to the message of <v02130501af5bf2419ce8@[137.110.17.2]> from seeds-list@eskimo.com: > > WARNING!!! DO NOT START THESE PLANTS! BJ -- even if you CAN germinate > them, they are incredibly invasive and spiny as they mature. I strongly > suggest you put them in the very center of a very hot compost and hope they > DONT germinate. Ornamental asparagus can even escape pots!!! > My 2 cents... > I think this is entirely a question of "Which ornamental asaparagus?" I used to winter Asparagus sprengeri in a greenhouse with a fine limestone gravel floor over natural soil. I used to regularly have a crop of the seedlings in the gravel by spring. They were the same soft foliage as their parents. They grew slowly enough to be no problem to pull and discard. I actually gathered them and used them for the filler in my mixed summer outdoor containers. I lived in zone 6 at that time. I always look to see if there is any possibility of telling where a correspondent is located from either the address or signature and usually it isn't possible. It would be such an added element to our learning from each other if we knew where the information originated. I am adding the zone line to my signature. Who cares if the people in my other lists know what it means. Maybe they will ask. Mary R. Henry Dept. of Horticulture U. of MN phone: 612-729-9524 FAX: 729-1573 "We're all in this together." USDA Zone 4a