Walker Deluxe

Walker Deluxe is an F1 hybrid from Walker Plants of Pittsgrove, New Jersey, a family asparagus business, and Rupp Seeds dates its introduction to 2019. It is a 98% male hybrid, so almost no plants set berries and almost none of the crop's energy goes into seed or volunteer seedlings. In the first year of the Pennsylvania variety trial written up in Purdue's Vegetable Crops Hotline it out-yielded everything else in the plot, cutting 594 lb per acre in total (250 lb of larger-diameter spears plus 344 lb of smaller), against 499 lb for Guelph Eclipse and 232 lb for Guelph Millennium. Holmes Seed positions its wide climate adaptability, across temperate, warm and cool districts, as the reason to plant it over region-specific hybrids. It is sold for fresh market, processing and freezing. One practical caveat: Rupp lists Walker Deluxe as unavailable in 2026 following a crop failure, so seed and crown supply is currently unreliable.