Artichokes can double as both a beautiful structural feature plant in a flower garden, and a perennial vegetable in the veggie patch. Artichokes have beautiful, arching grey-green leaves and develop a strong central stem that develops the main flower and side shoot flowers. It is the buds of the flowers that you want to harvest- if you wait until the bud starts to open, the artichoke will be well past its prime for eating. Artichokes can be prepared in many ways, but my recipe of choice is to stuff them- my family version of this traditional Italian dish can be found here. If you do want to use the plant as a decorative feature plant, leave the buds to open to display an amazing purple flower.
Artichokes take up lots of real estate in the vegetable garden, and they love a rich, well drained position in full sunshine. In my experience, they do better when you don’t pay them any particular attention. They can become mushy and rot if you over-water or mulch too heavily or too close to the stem. Ladybirds love artichokes, and the relationship is mutually beneficial as they protect against pests both insect and fungal.
Once the central flower head is cut for eating, the side shoots and their buds continue to grow. However, these will be “baby” artichokes and never reach full size. This plant can keep you in anticipation, as they can take up to two years to flower. I think they are well worth the wait, as they can continue to produce in the garden for up to 5 years before requiring dividing and replanting.
Propagation
I have had difficulty in the past propagating this plant. In theory, once they have produced their harvest, they develop side shoots (suckers) from the root system close to the main stem. You can either retain or cut down the main stem and use a sharp spade to slice the sucker away from the parent plant, trying to keep some roots attached to the baby plant while trying to avoid damage to the parent plant. I have not yet been able to find this fine line!! But, I live in the hope that with more practice, I will get there eventually!
If (like me) this seems too difficult, or you are just starting out, artichokes seedlings are relatively cheap and easy to buy from gardening shops or online.
