What it is
Asparagus Connover's Colossal is one of the most enduring and trusted asparagus varieties in British growing, with a heritage stretching back to the Victorian era and an RHS Award of Garden Merit confirming its continued relevance to modern gardeners. It is an Asparagus officinalis variety, open pollinated rather than a hybrid, producing large, thick spears of bright green with characteristically deep purple tips and a clean, delicate flavour that is genuinely difficult to match from a supermarket. As a perennial vegetable, it is grown once and harvested year after year: an established bed will produce reliably for 15 to 20 years, making it one of the best long term investments you can make in a kitchen garden or allotment. Growing from seed is slower than planting crowns but significantly cheaper, and plants raised from seed often establish stronger, more disease resistant root systems as a result.
Why it is good
The flavour of freshly cut asparagus is in a different category to anything commercially available: sweet, tender and delicate in a way that deteriorates quickly after cutting, which is one of the reasons growing your own is so worthwhile. Connover's Colossal produces thick, generously sized spears with strong yields once the bed is fully established, and its long track record in British gardens reflects genuine reliability across a range of conditions. The feathery foliage that develops through summer after the harvest season is also genuinely ornamental: tall, airy and attractive in the garden. The flowers are a noted nectar and pollen source for bees, making it a useful addition to a wildlife friendly plot. An established plant should produce around 10 to 25 spears per season, and stopping harvesting by mid June each year allows the crown to rebuild its reserves for the following spring.
Growing performance
Asparagus requires a dedicated, permanent bed: once planted it should not be disturbed, so preparation before sowing or planting matters more than almost any other crop. Choose a sunny, sheltered position with deep, fertile, very well drained soil. Asparagus will not tolerate waterlogging and will fail in poorly drained ground. Clear the bed of all perennial weeds thoroughly before sowing as weeding becomes much harder once the plants are established. Dig in generous amounts of well rotted organic matter before sowing and, if the soil is acidic, apply lime to bring the pH up to around neutral. Seeds sown indoors in February or March can be planted out in early summer of the same year and moved to their final position the following spring. Outdoor sowings in March or April can be thinned and transplanted similarly. Keep the bed weed free throughout: competition from weeds is one of the most common reasons asparagus beds underperform. Mulch generously each autumn with well rotted compost.
Harvest and outcome
Patience is genuinely required with asparagus grown from seed: do not harvest any spears in the first two years after sowing, and only harvest lightly in the third year. From the fourth year onwards, harvest fully for six to eight weeks from mid April to mid June. Cut individual spears with a sharp knife around 2.5cm below the soil surface when they reach around 15 to 18cm tall, and harvest every two to three days in warm weather as spears can grow very quickly. Stop all harvesting by mid June each year without exception, as this allows the plant to build up the crown reserves that will produce next year's crop. After harvesting, allow the ferny foliage to develop fully through summer and cut it back to around 10cm above soil level in autumn.
Who it is for
Connover's Colossal is for any grower who is ready to make a long term commitment to their plot. The patience required in the early years is real, but the reward is a bed that produces one of the most luxurious vegetables you can grow, reliably, every spring, for two decades without resowing. It is a natural choice for allotment holders who want to dedicate a permanent section of their plot to a perennial crop, and for kitchen gardeners who want to mark out an asparagus bed as a centrepiece of their growing year. If you are establishing a new plot and thinking about what to plant first, an asparagus bed from seed is one of the most rewarding decisions you can make in year one.
