Description
Artichoke – Cynara
S. scolymus – Globe Artichoke – this clump forming perennial may grow 6′ feet tall and 4′ feet wide. It produces deeply lobed or pinnatified gray-green leaves, to 32″ inches long, with pointed segments, gray hairy above, densely white woolly beneath. In early autumn, it bears purple flowerheads, 3-6″ inches across with large involucral bracts.
Grow in fertile well drained soil in full sun sheltered from strong winds. For best foliage effects remove flowering stems as they emerge in summer. Where temperatures fall below 5 degrees fahrenheit protect rootstock with a dry winter mulch. Matures in 120 days, harvest buds from upper most when tightly closed downward. Space 2-4′ feet apart
zones 8-9
