I have strawberry and blackberry plants. Natives I'm looking for are Castanea pumila, Corylus americana, pawpaw, Indian potato, and other native fruit, nut or perennial edible.

Hello, I too, like you, am looking forward to spring. I'll try to answer some of your questions. RE Asparagus -- asparagus needs to be in full sun, and definitely does NOT want a heavy, wet soil, which would make it rot. It actually does best in rich, sandy loam. It does like a steady supply of moisture, but doesn't ever want waterlogged roots, hence the sandy soil. As far as varieties, there are three main classes, open pollinated, mixed-gender cultivars like 'Mary Washington' which are the oldest types, and the cheapest to purchase; all-male hybrids, known as the 'Jersey' series because they were developed in New Jersey, these are generally all-male plants (although a few females slip through at times), so they are claimed to make larger spears and give higher yields as they don't devote energy to bearing fruits. Personally, I don't see that there is a big advantage in these for the home gardener. They are the most expensive plants to buy; finally, there are also the 'gourmet' types, such as 'Purple Passion' which bears purple spears, or some of the European cultivars which grow the white asparagus (ONLY if blanched with mounds of soi), such as 'Precocce d'Argenteuile' (note -that's probably NOT the correct spelling) -- these types are fun to grow if you are of that mindset. Rhubarb will grow in full sun or partial shade, and it likes rich, moist soil. It will tolerate heavy soil and the infrequent, very short-term flooding. In hotter climates, it actually would prefer some shade in the heat of the day. With rhubarb, your basic choice is between green-stemmed and red-stemmed cultivars. There actually is very little to no taste difference, but green-stemmed cultivars like 'Victoria' are actually more vigorous than the red-stemmed ones 'Chipman's Canada Red,' 'Cherry,' etc. Personally, I would say just get a green-stemmed type, and add a little food coloring when cooking if you wish. But, that's up to you. As far as when to plant -- you will basically receive dormant roots on either of these, and the nursery should send them at approximately the correct planting time for your region. Both are fully hardy, and can be planted outside as soon as you can work the soil, which is probably sometime in March in Virginia. Hope that answered some of your questions.

Catkin - I did a Google image search using the photo you posted and R. podophylla appeared in all its glory! I also checked out the Missouri BG website and found this description: Rodgersia podophylla is a bold, clump-forming, rhizomatous perennial that is native to shaded slopes, moist woodlands and stream banks in Japan and Korea. Although the summer-blooming, astilbe-like, creamy-white flowers in foot-long clusters are ornamentally attractive, it is the large, coarsely-toothed, palmate, green to bronze-green leaves (basal leaves to 16” across/cauline leaves smaller) that primarily attract gardeners to this plant. This is a substantial perennial that typically forms a spreading foliage mound to 3' tall and as wide. It will naturalize over time by thick rhizomes. Each palmate-compound leaf has 5 (less frequently 7) lobes. Each lobe is deeply veined and serrated with 3-5 shallow lobes near the apex. Leaves emerge bronze-green in spring, mature to green in summer and finally turn bronze-red in fall. Small, white to greenish-white funnel-shaped, apetulous flowers bloom in dense, branched clusters (to 12" long) from June to August on upright stems rising 1'-2' above the foliage mound. This species is sometimes commonly called bronzeleaf rodgersia. Enjoy!

mwforbush I was hoping christinmk would respond but she has not been active here for a while. Ornamental rhubarb is one of my favorite plants. I grow Rheum palmatum 'Atrosanguineum' in partial shade and it is a gorgeous big beast. It is one of the first plants to break ground in spring with bright red growth. The foliage starts red then becomes burgundy and finally turning green. The leaf veins are prominent and remain reddish, really striking foliage. Their roots require moisture retentive soil. Mine loses some leaves in the heat of summer but I attribute that to letting it bloom. I highly recommend growing it if you can meet its requirements. I have had mine for at least 6 years.Beginning of May - we had a very wet spring End of May spedigrees my edible rhubarb takes a bit of a beating over the summer too.