Plant in full coastal sun to light shade in about any type of soil with moderate to only occasional irrigation - though lush looking, this is a pretty drought tolerant plant and it is cold hardy to to short duration temperatures down to 20° F, so useful in USDA zones 9-10. A fun and attractive plant in the garden - great for mass plantings or container planting and can even be grown as a house plant, though it has been included in poisonous plant lists because the berries are considered to be mildly toxic and the sap can cause short duration dermatitis.

Asparagus densiflorus is native to southern Africa where it grows in coastal areas in the southeastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal and further to north in Mozambique. The name for the genus originates from the original Greek word 'asparagos' that was given to the cultivated asparagus. The specific epithet 'densiflorus' refers to the way the small flowers are densely packed along the stem. The cultivars 'Myers' and 'Spengeri' both were considered to be of this species but more recently have been separated with 'Spengeri' now listed as a cultivar of Asparagus aethiopicus. For this reason, early names used for this plant were Asparagus sprengeri 'Compacta', A. 'Sprengeri Compacta' or A. sarmentosus 'Compacta' but there were also true forms of the Sprengeri Fern that were more compact than the original Asparagus aethiopicus 'Sprengeri' so these names and plants all became confused in the nursery trades.

Asparagus densiflorus 'Myers' has been in cultivation in the US since the early 1900's and is also sometimes listed as Asparagus densiflorus 'Myersii', Meyers, or 'Meyersii'. The spelling 'Myers' is listed in Cornell University's Hortus Third (1976) and in their 1979 Annotated Checklist of Woody Ornamental Plants the authors, Dr. Elizabeth McClintock (UC Berkeley Dept of Botany) and Dr. Andrew Leiser (UC Davis Dept of Botany) list Asparagus densiflora 'Myers' as the correct name of this plant and cross reference the cultivar names 'Meyers' and 'Meyersii' as synonyms. It was under the name 'Myersii' that this plant received the coveted Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit in 1993. There are reports on the internet that this plant was named for USDA explorer Frank Nicholas Meyer (1875 - 1918), who traveled to Asia to collect new plant species and most famous for the introduction of the Meyer Lemon. Meyer did indeed import some Asparagus species, but we have not been able to validate the link to this plant. If it was named for him, the name 'Meyer' or perhaps 'Meyeri' (since the name preceded naming conventions that would disallow using a Latinized name for a cultivar) would be correct. Other common names include Myer's Asparagus, Cat's Tail Asparagus, Basket Asparagus, Emerald Fern, Foxtail Fern and Asparagus fern though it is obviously not a true fern. We have grown and sold this sculptural plant since 1981 and have large specimens of it in the garden. 

The information about Asparagus densiflorus 'Myers' displayed on this web page is based on our research conducted in the nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also include observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share cultural information that would aid others in growing this plant.