The illustrated growing guide
Good King Henry
Blitum bonus-henricus
Family Amaranthaceae
Est. zones 3-9
The 'poor man's asparagus' of medieval gardens — a plant-once perennial that gives asparagus-like spring shoots, then spinach-like greens all summer, for years. Ugly name, humble looks, genuinely useful in the perennial food layer.
Full Sun to Part Shade
Moderate water
Moderate growth
Excellent edibleI
Overview
Will good king henry suit your garden, and what goes wrong.
Will it fruit where you are?
Enter your ZIP — we look up your USDA hardiness zone (2023 map) and check it against what good king henry actually needs.
Hardy inZones 3-9Good King Henry at a glance
Common good king henry problems
- Almost none
- Few
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Growing
Light, water, soil, propagation and the season’s jobs.
How to grow good king henry: light, water & soil
How to plant & propagate good king henry
The good king henry growing playbook
Field-tested instructions for every job good king henry asks of you, compiled from university extension guidance — in the order the season brings them.
Sowing
Sow seed in spring into fertile, well-drained ground
Sow seed in spring in any well-drained fertile soil, in a sunny or semi-shaded spot. This is a long-lived perennial crown, so give it a permanent bed rather than a rotation slot, and plan to let the first season go to building the plant rather than to picking. Good King Henry is propagated by seed and it is the crown, not the top, that carries the crop forward, so a spring sowing gives the plant a full season to build the root reserves it will draw on for its first real spring shoots.
Protection
Stake plants that run up tall in rich ground
In good conditions plants can reach two to three feet and grow rapidly. If yours get tall and start to lean, push in a stake or a few twiggy supports rather than letting them flop. Rapid soft growth in fertile, sheltered ground outruns the stem strength to hold it up, and a plant on the ground fouls its own leaves and makes the crop hard to pick clean.
Harvesting
First year after planting: pick only lightly
In the first year after planting, pick only lightly. Take a few leaves if you must, but leave the bulk of the foliage standing all season and start harvesting in earnest from the second spring. A first-year plant is still building the perennial crown, and every leaf you remove is photosynthetic area it needed to bank reserves. Stripping it now buys one thin salad at the cost of years of cropping.
Cut the young spring shoots like asparagus
On established plants, cut the new shoots as they push up in spring and cook them like asparagus. Thin them as you cut rather than taking every shoot, and steam the immature flower buds like small broccoli. The young shoots are the crop the plant is named for, and taking them as a thinning leaves enough stems to leaf out and refill the crown for next year.
Pick leaves regularly through the season
Harvest the leaves as you need them right through the season, taking the younger ones and working over the whole plant rather than one side. Cook them as you would spinach. Regular picking is what keeps the plant compact and cropping well. Left unpicked it runs up to full height and the leaves coarsen, so harvesting is the pruning on this crop.
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The year
What good king henry asks for, month by month.
The good king henry year, month by month
PruneHarvestWhat each band means
- Prune — shape it now — cuts heal cleanly and structure is visible.
- Harvest — picking time — check ripeness every few days.
The good king henry year as text
- Jan quiet month
- Feb quiet month
- Mar harvest
- Apr harvest
- May harvest
- Jun quiet month
- Jul quiet month
- Aug quiet month
- Sep pruning
- Oct pruning
- Nov pruning
- Dec quiet month
These are the species' typical months — expect them a few weeks earlier in warm zones and later in cold ones. Watch the plant, not just the calendar.
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Ecology & uses
What it does for the garden, and what it is grown for.
Good King Henry in the garden system
- Herbaceous layer perennial
What good king henry is grown for
✓ Commonly eatenLeaves have oxalates — cook, don't eat raw in bulk
Harvesting & storing good king henry
Spring: young shoots like asparagus; leaves like spinach all season; flower buds like broccoli. About perennial (crop year 2) from planting.
Edibility, identification, and traditional-use notes here are general reference — not medical or veterinary advice, and not a claim that any plant treats or prevents anything. Medicinal ratings record how strongly a plant features in herbal tradition, nothing more. Never eat or dose a plant you have not positively identified. More on how to use this library.
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Cultivars
Named varieties of good king henry, ruled as a catalogue.
Best good king henry varieties & cultivars
Straight species (a medieval potherb)
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Sources & plant ID
Where the care distinctions come from, and how the plant is filed.
Research basis
Sources behind this profile
No extension citations are attached to good king henryyet. The care figures below come from the library's own catalogue rather than a traced primary source.
Plant ID
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Where to buy
Third-party nurseries — not Story Thyme Farms.
Third-party nurseries, not Story Thyme Farms. Prices are theirs.
Story Thyme Farms may earn a small commission from these links, at no cost to you — it never changes what we recommend.
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Questions
Good King Henry questions, answered straight.
Is good king henry safe for kids and pets?
Good King Henry is commonly eaten and isn't considered toxic, but "commonly eaten" isn't a guarantee for any particular person or animal — allergies, quantity, and which part you eat all matter. One caveat on this one: Leaves have oxalates — cook, don't eat raw in bulk. Never eat a plant you haven't positively identified, and check with a vet before letting pets or livestock graze anything new.
When do you harvest good king henry?
Spring: young shoots like asparagus; leaves like spinach all season; flower buds like broccoli. From planting, expect about perennial (crop year 2) to maturity.
How do you propagate good king henry?
From seed or division.
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Elsewhere
Where good king henry sits in the library.
Tomato
Pepper
Squash
Corn