Lets talk perennials....

[FarmerJamie]

do you want as long as a season as possible? List of varieties

I have Northland and Patriot bushes.

 

[BarredBuff]

I meant asparagus and rhubarb, we have blueberries planted now.

 

[FarmerJamie]

Mary Washington on the asparagus

 

[moolie]

Both homes we have owned came with rhubarb, the last one also came with asparagus, but it died off after a few years and we never replaced it because a) it takes so long to grow from seed to edible and b) it's not a favourite in our family (although I personally love tender shoots sauted in garlic butter!)

Rhubarb is dead easy to keep going, we pretty much ignore it and never water it, and we get 3 crops off each year. Ours has lovely tender red stalks, some varieties are more green and/or more stringy but you can peel off the strings.

Other perennials/shrubs/fruits we grow are: Honeycrisp and Hardimac Apples, Raspberries, Cardoon, Salsify, Chives, and very close by we have Saskatoon Berries and Crabapples. We keep a few herbs going all winter and I'm about to plant an indoor mixed/Mesclun salad greens garden in a long narrow planter under grow lights because we really like salad. Last year I tried to bring in tomato cuttings to keep indoors through the winter, but they died and this fall I wasn't on the ball enough to try again.

 

[BarredBuff]

Thanks FJ and Moolie!

 

[SSDreamin]

My asparagus is Mary Washington. My rhubarb is gimme's (they offer the roots, I say gimme!)

 

[moolie]

My asparagus is Mary Washington. My rhubarb is gimme's (they offer the roots, I say gimme!)

Love "gimme" varieties although I'm often the one whose rhubarb needs dividing...

 

[BarredBuff]

My blackberries are "gimmes" and they taste great! Tangy, sweet, sour all in one!

 

[~gd]

BB- I started my asparagus bed in the spring but I am in a zone 5. I dug a trench along a fence line and mixed in rabbit manure composted with pine shavings they have only been in for 1-1/2 years. I will be adding a lot more it's true you can't have too much. I have the walking onions and the bulbs seem to be small do you think they are the same as the potato onion? Nope the potato onion has the small bulbs underground while they are at the top of the plant on the walking onions. I grew them both one year and the potato onions produced about 4 times the walkers in bullb weight~gd I split the sets and they make great scallions year round. Have you thought about the jerusalem artichoke I don't grow them yet but thought I might try them.

FJ- What can you tell me about the nanking cherries as far as how big they get. I need to find a permanent place mine are in 5 gal containers.