How to Grow

How to Grow Good King Henry Canada | Planting & Establishment

Move through the SoilCommander growing library like a course: keep the navigation in place, open the next lesson, and build your garden plan step by step.

How to Grow Good King Henry Canada | Planting & Establishment guide thumbnail

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. Source: Wikimedia Commons

2 sources cited · Verified

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 and university-extension sources — see References.

Growth Stages

A flowering Good King Henry plant — “Chenopodium bonus-henricus01” by Meneerke bloem is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons
“Chenopodium bonus-henricus01” by Meneerke bloem is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
Stage BBCH Notes
Sowing or planting 0 Sow seed or plant into fertile, well-drained, organic-matter-rich soil in full or partial shade, sheltered position (RHS, Harvest to Table).
Establishment 1 Grows rapidly in ideal conditions once established; may need staking if it becomes tall (Harvest to Table).
Leafy cropping 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).
Flowering and dormancy 6 Tiny yellowy-green flowers appear on the plant; as a hardy perennial, it dies back and re-sprouts each year, surviving most UK winters (RHS).

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. Source: Wikimedia Commons
“Chenopodium bonus-henricus sl1” by Stefan.lefnaer is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
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. Source: Wikimedia Commons
“Chenopodium bonus-henricus sl15” by Stefan.lefnaer is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

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

References

  1. country=INTL

  2. country=UK

2 independent sources are cited for this crop. Where they disagree - soil pH is the clearest case - every figure is preserved rather than averaged into false precision.

Plan next season before the problems start

Short-season growing is arithmetic before it is technique: days to maturity against frost-free days decides what will finish at all. The Canada Garden Planner does that subtraction for your region before you sow.

Get the Canada Garden Planner →

Instant PDF download · Written for Canadian growing conditions

SoilCommander Editorial Team

Canadian vegetable growing guides · Checked against provincial agriculture & university extension guidance

Every SoilCommander guide is written and maintained by our editorial team for real Canadian growing conditions, and checked against provincial agriculture and Canadian university extension guidance, and against frost-date and growing-season data, before publication.

Vegetable Growing Guides Canada

Last verified 2026-08-30

Relevant next steps

Where To Go From Here

Take this crop from reading into a written plan for your own beds.

Canada garden plannerTurn this crop guide into sowing dates, bed layouts and a harvest record. All growing guidesBrowse every crop we cover for your region, A to Z. Planting CalendarSee how this crop fits alongside everything else you are growing.
Free Tool
soilcommander.com/pages/garden-planner
1 · Shape
2 · Crops
3 · Conditions
4 · Plan
Choose your garden shape
🍅
Bed 1
Tomatoes
🍌
Bed 2
Legumes
🥦
Bed 3
Brassicas
🥕
Bed 4
Roots
🥥
Bed 5
Alliums
🌿
Herbs & More

Free planning tool

Plan your veg garden before you dig a single inch

Sketch your exact plot shape, pick your crops, and get a spacing-accurate bed layout with companion pairings and a rotation plan. Spacing, companion pairings and rotation work the same in any climate — pair the layout it gives you with the Canada planting calendar for your own frost-date timing.

Garden Layout Planner Tool

Free to use. Nothing to install.

Plan the next step

Use the printable SoilCommander planner for your region to turn this guide into sowing dates, bed layouts and weekly garden tasks.

Get Planner