Asparagus Plumosa as an Ornamental 
A. E. Cline, Altamonte Springs 
Asparagus plumosa, commonly though 
wrongly called Asparagus fern, is one of 
the commercial products of Florida. As 
nearly all of it is shipped to Northern flor¬ 
ists, I doubt if we at home realize its or¬ 
namental qualities. In the North it is 
used almost entirely for decorative work 
and as a background for flowers. There 
it is either greenhouse grown or comes as 
cut sprays from Florida. Here it grows 
out in the open all the year and we can 
carry the decorative idea of its use into 
the ornamental, for instead of dealing 
with cut flowers we can enlarge its use to 
porch, lawn and yard, both as a back¬ 
ground for flowers and foliage and for 
its own beauty as a mass of green. 
Grown as a pot plant, it does not go to 
seed but its fine feathery close-grown 
sprays have a beauty all their own. 
Another, and I think a better way of 
using it is as a screen for porch or win¬ 
dow. Here given a trellis of wood, wire 
or even string, it will climb steadily up¬ 
ward, spreading out as it grows until it 
forms a dense mass of fine green foliage. 
In this form it will blossom and the seeds 
form, which with their coloring from 
green through purple to black give an add¬ 
ed beauty to the screen. 
It is a plant that is comparatively easy 
to grow, started from seed, then trans¬ 
planted to a good bed in ground or pot, 
given water and fertilizer (especially the 
latter, as it is a heavy feeder), it will do 
the rest. 
Once firmly rooted in the ground, it is 
there to stay. I know of plants in a com¬ 
mercial fernery that are twenty-three 
years old, and this fernery is still consid¬ 
ered one of the best in the State. 
Under the slight protection of the or¬ 
dinary eaves of the porch or roof, it is im¬ 
mune to frost or heat, though I have seen 
■ it successfully grown on a trellis in the 
open yard. For decorative work or bou¬ 
quets the sprays can be cut from either the 
pot plant or trellis to the great advantage 
of both the plant and yourself, a case of 
“eating your cake and having it too.” 
Almost the only enemy is the red spider, 
well known to citrus growers, and this is 
easily controlled by spraying with the or¬ 
dinary lime sulphur solution. Although 
indigenous to Florida, it has become a true 
Florida product, and therefore my advice 
is, try it and live happy ever afterward. 
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