How to Grow Good King Henry

By the SoilCommander Editorial Team, under the guidance of Nitin Sharma, Co-Founder · · How we check our facts

On this page
  1. Good King Henry (Blitum bonus-henricus)
  2. Growth Stages
  3. Quick Facts
  4. Harvest & Storage
  5. Good King Henry, an Ancient British Perennial Green
  6. Plan your Good King Henry planting
  7. Growing Good King Henry in another region
  8. Sources

Good king henry (Blitum bonus-henricus) — perennial.

Unlike an annual crop, the work here is front-loaded into establishment: get the planting and the site right and the same plants crop for several seasons.

Core growing advice on this page is checked against named horticultural sources — see References.

Good King Henry (Blitum bonus-henricus)

A single arrow-shaped Good King Henry leaf — “Chenopodium bonus-henricus sl1” by Stefan.lefnaer is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Also known as: Lincolnshire spinach · 3 sources cited · Verified

Growth Stages

A flowering Good King Henry plant — “Chenopodium bonus-henricus01” by Meneerke bloem is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
“Chenopodium bonus-henricus01” by Meneerke bloem is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
  1. Sowing or planting (BBCH 0): Sow seed or plant into fertile, well-drained, organic-matter-rich soil in full or partial shade, sheltered position (RHS, Harvest to Table).
  2. Establishment (BBCH 1): Grows rapidly in ideal conditions once established; may need staking if it becomes tall (Harvest to Table).
  3. Leafy cropping (BBCH 3): Harvest leaves as required to keep the plant compact and cropping well; young shoots can also be blanched and eaten like asparagus (Harvest to Table, RHS).
  4. Flowering and dormancy (BBCH 6)

Quick Facts

A single arrow-shaped Good King Henry leaf — “Chenopodium bonus-henricus sl1” by Stefan.lefnaer is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Chenopodium bonus-henricus sl1” by Stefan.lefnaer is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Factor Value
Drainage Well-drained or moist but well-drained
Lifecycle perennial
Edible parts leaves, young shoots, flower buds

Harvest & Storage

A whole harvested Good King Henry plant with its root — “Chenopodium bonus-henricus sl15” by Stefan.lefnaer is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Chenopodium bonus-henricus sl15” by Stefan.lefnaer is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to pick: RHS: "Harvest the leaves as required, to keep the plant compact and cropping well"; "only pick lightly in the first year after planting" to let the plant establish.

Storage

Best used fresh

Plan your Good King Henry planting

Timing for Good King Henry follows soil temperature and frost, not the calendar date. The Global vegetable planting calendar explains the method. To work out where it fits in your beds, sketch your plot in the free Garden Layout Planner.

Growing Good King Henry in another region

Sowing dates, frost timing and local advice differ by country. Use the guide for where you garden.

Sources

  2. Well-drained, fertile, loamy soil rich in organic matter; add 2in aged compost or organic planting mix before planting, turning soil to 12in deep. Hardy to USDA zones 4-8, to -25°F/-31.7°C. Grows rapidly in ideal conditions, may need staking if it gets too tall. Harvest leaves as required to keep the plant compact and cropping well. Does not typically suffer pest/disease attack, though tender shoots can occasionally draw aphids, and slugs/snails may nibble seedlings or young growth, especially in damp conditions.

These 2 sources are specific to this region. The full list of 3 sources behind this guide (GBIF, Harvest to Table, Royal Horticultural Society) is in the references of our UK guide to good king henry; they describe the plant itself, which is the same wherever it grows.

Plan next season before the problems start

This page gives you the thresholds; the planner turns them into your own calendar. It works from what you can observe and measure in your garden rather than from dates written for somebody else’s latitude.

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SoilCommander Editorial Team — under the guidance of Nitin Sharma, Co-Founder

Every growing guide is checked against RHS, USDA Cooperative Extension, and other named horticultural authorities before publishing. How we check our facts.

How this guide is put together

The growing data on this page — sowing windows, pests, diseases, soil and site requirements — comes from named horticultural sources, listed in References below, checked against international horticultural research and extension sources. An automated pipeline assembles that verified data into the page you're reading: it selects which facts to lead with and builds the surrounding prose and layout. It does not invent a date, a source or a number — where a verified value for a field isn't available, the page leaves it out rather than guessing. A person reviews and publishes each page; nothing goes live unverified.

Vegetable Growing Guides

Last verified 2026-08-30

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