I love Asparagus Fern and have found it to be pretty hardy and will tolerate a good bit of neglect. They are prone to dropping needles for me it is usually when I have been lax in watering but they rebound beautifully. I hadn't had an Asparagus Fern for years and found some at a local nursery just small ones for a dollar a piece and put them in my window boxes. At the end of summer I had some really nice big plants that I decided to pull out of the window boxes and pot up for gifts to some of my friends. Totally forgetting the thorns. I sure won't do that again.