I know that usually asparagus, rhubarb, artichoke + cardoon are usually grown by crown division. But there are seeds offered in nursery catalogues. Are they any good? Are there varieties which are good from seed and othees only good from division?
I grew cardoon from seed and knew of a larger farm that grew a large amount from seed with really good results. My problem was that the deer ate all of them in one or two nights. I have a friend who has grown asparagus from seed for years.
I have grown both artichoke and cardoon from seed. The artichoke variety was Violetto, a small-budded type. Both did well but I decided I didn't like to eat the artichokes that much and removed them, but kept the Cardoon which seems more robust. I haven't tried eating it yet.
Thanks I'll try that. If the purple one you planted from seed is the purple one I bought one day and killed it by trying to divide the clump - then this is an awesome tender artichoke - much better than the usual green globe. What about asparagus? Cardoon just looks so gorgeous!
Not all rhubarbs make viable seeds.
Some of them even don't make any seed at all.
If I can find some seeds for a cultivar, I seed them, because it's cheaper and easier, but for the other ones, I'm stuck with dividing the clumps.
Same for artichokes...
I was delighted when I experimented saving my own rhubarb seed and it germinated and produced new plants . Definitely worth giving it a try . I have grown asparagus from purchased seed too, and I was much happier with the result than paying a dear price for some dried out corm from the nursery which failed about 90 percent of the time , however all the first year or two the plants are very delicate and cannot be harvested from till about the third year in my own experience .
To me, it depends on the cultivar.
Victoria, Champagne Rose, Red Giant, przodownik europy, Glaskins and others make seeds.
Some others (can't remember the cultivars right now) don't make seeds.
I've grown rhubarb and asparagus both from seed. The rhubarb seedlings were incredibly hardy, and resilient! The asparagus was slow the first year, but by the second season they are outperforming the 3rd year crowns I planted. I like the results from growing the seedlings. Asparagus seeds do seem to have a lower germination rate than most other seeds though.
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