I should go look this up to be sure, but I think Turk's Cap is Malvaviscus. There is one that has larger flowers that's not very hardy--mine died in z9--but there is a form called, I think, M. drummondii, or I should say M. something drummondii, which is totally hardy here. Lots of people who like to garden have it and it grows with little or no care, sun or shade or anything in between it seems. It doesn't bloom very well in the shade, which is where I was told to put mine. I've since been told, and have seen it growing that way, that it does best in sun. Good plant for hummers.

This is a quote from The Southern Living Gardening Book: "Plants take 2 to 3 years to come into full production but then furnish spears every spring for 10 to 15 years or more. They take up considerable space but do so in a grand manner. Use along a sunny fence or as a background for flowers or vegetables. (You don't have to plant every plant all together. You can scatter them around through ornamental beds and just walk around to harvest.) Set out seedlings or roots (not wilted, no smaller than an adult's hand) in fall or winter. Make trenches 1 ft. wide and 8-10 inches deep. Space them 4 to 6 ft. apart. Heap loose soil enriched with composted manure at bottom of trenches and soak well. Space plants 1 ft. apart, setting them so that tops are 6 to 8 inches below the top of the trench. Spread roots out evenly. Cover with 2 inches of soil and water again. As young plants grow, gradually fill in trench, taking care not to cover growing tips. Soak deeply whenever soil begins to dry out at root depth. Do not harvest spears the first year. The object is to build a big root mass. When plants turn brown in late fall or early winter, cut stems to the ground. The following spring you can cut your first spears; cut only for 4 to 6 weeks or until appearance of thin spears indicates that roots are nearing exhaustion. Then permit plants to grow. Cultivate, feed, and irrigate heavily. The third year you should be able to cut spears for 8 to 10 weeks. Spears are ready to cut when they are 5-8 inches long. Thrust knife down at 45 degree angle to soil; flat cutting may injure adjacent developing spears." "Jersey Knight is the best variety for Southern Growers. Male hybrids typically produce more and larger spears, because they don't put energy into seed production. Such selections still produce an occasional female plant." At my old house, I followed the above instructions and had asparagus there. (I live in East Central MS, about 200 miles inland from the Gulf Coast.) I made a three foot wide raised bed alongside my vegetable garden and planted nothing in it but asparagus. Ever. That is one disadvantage to asparagus and why they are so expensive. You cannot plant anything else in their bed. That soil only produces something edible for 2 to 3 montsh each year. In my youthful ignorance, I bought the typical order of plants, which is 20, and then split them with a friend to save money. Ten plants never produced enough spears at one time to feed my family of four. However, the plants did well, and required very little work except feeding, watering, and giving them a good mulch each year to keep down weeds. If I had space, I would definitely grow them again, but plant AT LEAST 20 roots this time. The Gardening Book says asparagus will grow as far south as the Lower South, which is all the way down except a narrow strip along the coast. Asparagus roots are not that expensive, though you may have to hunt for Jersey Knight. If you want to grow them, do a really good job of preparing the soil and digging the trenches and see what happens. It's not much to lose and you just might succeed!

AJ, I don't recall having a problem with bolting, but I have had difficulty with planting in early September due to heat. So I usually wait until mid September to start setting plants. We've got a cold front moving down so probably will begin setting plants today. Optimal timing for my area is second half of September. However, I usually have good results from plants set throughout October, sometimes into November. Our winters are generally mild enough to allow the October plants to be harvested in January. I've had poor results with all OP brassicas except for Green Goliath broccoli. So I stick to hybrids.

I can live without the flowers, was after tall tropical effect. I've seen green. red ribbed and var. rubra more reddish leaved photos. I'm after a 9+' tall excellent growing type. Which colors have you seen look best here?