Yes you can plant both in the same bed without any problem. Did you mean you would plant one row of each variety in the 2' wide bed or plant maybe 5 MW on one end and 5 PP on the other? If you want to plant 2 rows I would make the bed at least 3' wide and 4' would be even better. PP can be planted about 9" apart but Mary Washington should be at least 12" spacing. The 10" depth will be OK if you can till and amend the soil with manure and/or compost under the bed before planting the crowns.

Some of the plants of each will probably be female and will put out berries in the summer after they go to fern. These berries can/will try to sprout into new plants the following year. You should pull them out to keep the bed from over crowding or you can transplant them.

Good luck!

Thank you both for your input! I had assumed that was the case but now that I am close to planting it occurred to me that I should double check. I didn't know if one would crowd out the other.

Jack, I plan to put the MW on the left and the PP on the right in a single row. I plan to till underneath and add compost and garden soil and till it into the native soil which is pretty dense but not hard clay. I have read that they prefer sandy loam type of soil, what could I add to help amend it before planting? I have always grown in containers and am a bit uneducated about growing in raised beds but am very excited for the learning opportunity and the new planting options I have.

Since the berries will sprout and cause the over crowding that Jack talks you can identify the ones with berries and dig those out so only the male plants are left. Then next year you can get additional plants and fill in the bare spots.

That way you don't have to worry about the berries sprouting.

That's a great idea rgress. I read about people doing that and it seems like the way to go since I don't have the space to let them take over.

Just be aware that since they will be all males they will just sit around, drink beer and watch sports.

I wouldn't remove the females - just clip off any berries as you see them forming.

I read that the females produce as little as 1/3-1/2 the crop as males as they divert a lot of their energy into producing seed. I don't know how accurate that is, but it may be worth taking some of the females out in favor of males but leave 1-2 females of each kind to produce seed if I ever want to expand the bed or share with friends.

Intersteing about males vs. females producing will pay attention this year. I WISH my asparagus would sprout from berries but so far nothing. I planted crowns in 2015 and have well prepared raised beds - things grow great and I am surprised I have not had any berries mature. I planted 2 kinds there and it did not occur to me to not let berries grow since they could be crossed from 2 kinds.

My female Mary Washington actually produce better than the male Jersey Knight in the same bed. Not sure why.

Sammers - I would just amend your native soil with compost. Adding sand to clay makes brick!

Hi, i'm looking to order Asparagus plants, it would be helpful if you suggest which of these online nurseries reliable and sell good quality plants.

Thanks in advance,

https://hirts.com/25-asparagus-roots-jersey-knight-male-dominate-tasty-no-gmos/

https://www.noursefarms.com/category/asparagus-roots/

http://www.andysasparagusacres.com/ 

https://www.gurneys.com/category/asparagus-plants/

Nourse farms has great quality and service. I bought 25 Pacific Purple and 25 Purple Passion from them in 2016 and they are doing great. I'd steer clear of Gurneys because, uh, they're Gurneys. I have also heard some poor reviews on Andy's Asparagus. Debruyn Seeds has the best prices that I have seen for 2 year crowns especially if you want a lot but they only offer Purple Passion and Jersey Knight. I ordered seed potatoes from Debruyn last year and was very happy with the quality.

Thanks LoneJack

I planted 300 Purple Passion from Nourse Farms in 2015 and couldn't be happier with them. I did however, give them a good 2 1/2 feet between plants. The reason I gave them so much space is that when I moved to the farm I dug up some of the purple passion from my old house and the roots were massive with a 3 foot spread in all directions. I sell most of my asparagus at a farmers market and the purple always sells out the quickest-usually within the first hour of the market. The Purple Passion asparagus also tastes excellent raw right out in the field.

You do not need to plant them in a raised bed. They will take up a lot of space as they fern out to 6 feet or so . You may want to consider that when you plant other crops near them.

Wow Debruyn has fantastic prices, even with the shipping costs its less than $20 for 10 of both varieties. Norse Farms has a good reputation but it looks like they only have 1 year crowns and way more than I need. I had originally placed an order with Gurneys two weeks ago (I know...) for 10 of the giant grade AsparaBest and 10 of the Heavy grade of the Purple Passion as their 50% off an order made is too temping not to but now I am considering canceling that (who knows when it will actually ship) and going with the ones from DeBruyn so I can get them in the ground faster.