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How to Grow Good King Henry UK | Regional Planting Calendar
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.
In the UK, good king henry go in the ground early March to early May.
Good king henry (Blitum bonus-henricus) — perennial.
Timing is the decision that matters most in the UK: there are 4 separate regional sowing windows, ranging from early March in Southern England to early March in Scotland.
Core growing advice on this page is checked against named horticultural and university-extension sources — see References.
Harvest to Table: plant in spring into fertile, well-prepared soil; a single window is applied uniformly across all four sub-regions since the source gives no UK-region-specific gradient, and this hardy perennial establishes across a wide range of UK conditions.
Midlands - detail & sources
Harvest to Table: plant in spring into fertile, well-prepared soil; a single window is applied uniformly across all four sub-regions since the source gives no UK-region-specific gradient, and this hardy perennial establishes across a wide range of UK conditions.
Northern England - detail & sources
Harvest to Table: plant in spring into fertile, well-prepared soil; a single window is applied uniformly across all four sub-regions since the source gives no UK-region-specific gradient, and this hardy perennial establishes across a wide range of UK conditions.
Scotland - detail & sources
Harvest to Table: plant in spring into fertile, well-prepared soil; a single window is applied uniformly across all four sub-regions since the source gives no UK-region-specific gradient, and this hardy perennial establishes across a wide range of UK conditions.
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).
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
Good King Henry, an Ancient British Perennial Green
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I sow good king henry in the UK?
In Southern England, from early March. In Scotland, wait until early March. Treat these as a guide rather than a fixed date — the governing rule is to sow only once frost risk has passed and temperatures are reliably warm enough.
When do I sow good king henry?
Sow early March to early May.
Plan next season before the problems start
Most of the advice on this page comes down to timing and spacing — sowing at the right moment, rotating beds, and giving plants enough airflow. The UK Garden Planner lays your plot out month by month so those decisions are already made before the season starts.
UK vegetable growing guides · Checked against RHS & Met Office guidance
Every SoilCommander guide is written and maintained by our editorial team for real UK growing conditions, and reviewed against Royal Horticultural Society growing advice and Met Office climate data before publication.
Sketch your exact plot shape, pick your UK crops, and get a spacing-accurate bed layout with companion pairings, a rotation plan and month-by-month sowing dates — every fact sourced from RHS and Garden Organic.
