A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The House Plant Forum Asparagus Fern

I've had a potted asparagus fern for maybe 5 years. I leave it out all summer and it does great. I've been told it's supposed to be a houseplant so I bring it in every winter and it almost dies. I have to cut it back to almost nothing each spring. Then I put it outside and it thrives. What should I do this year? Take a chance leaving it outside or take a chance inside?

Asparagus sprengeri (the common, hanging variety) will perish when the temperature drops below 24* F.
In the house, keep them in a cool area where night temperatures are about 55-60* to help keep it from losing its foliage. Do not fertilize until new growth appears in March or April.
Asparagus Ferns produce tiny white bulblets which make dividing or propagating easy. After five years, I think you may want to divide and repot yours next spring, before you put them back outdoors.

thanks WW. Wonder if I can leave it against an inside wall on the screened in porch.

How cold does it get down there? If you decide to try leaving it in your porch I think I would build a little poly tent around it and possibly mulch up around the planter....

Do you keep any other plants on your porch?

I'll bring it in and hope it doesn't give up the ghost on the inside this year.

The porch is screened on 3 sides but has large camellia shrubs, maybe 10 feet tall, on 2 sides but the front part isn't protected by shrubs. I imagine it gets pretty cold out there sometimes.

I was asking because a porch, screened, usually keeps a lot warmer. My asparagus ferns are outdoors and live quite nicely even with our occasional frosts and snow. I was thinking that unless you actually get icy conditions in your porch that they would do better there with a lot more light available than indoors.

With the wind blowing through it probably does get icy sometimes. I've never checked. I tried one time to overwinter a patio plant out there and pushed it against an inside wall behind the table and it died. Might have been because I didn't remember to water it though. I don't want to take a change with my fern. When it comes back it's so pretty.