Growing ARTICHOKE in zone 8

I am in the Sierra foothills at about 3500' in elevation...you are in Texas...flat land?

That's what we've been trying to say! The zones are very different and not a very good guide for planting.

Evelyn-the picture is beautiful. Drthor is in the Dallas, Ft. Worth area. I'm north west of Austin in the Hill Country South of drthor. What's strange is we are usually cooler in the winter here, today was cooler also, but we are South of Dallas

I think winter is just late. Lol It's supposed to get colder this weekend

Artichokes are growing really good.
Look at the picture with all the artichoke plants ... can you see that the pine needles around the second artichoke are missing ? It looks like one of those "crop circle" ...
Who is stealing my pine needles???

Wow! Looks kind of like when I let my chickens roam the yard. They pick a plant and scratch all the way around it. A wild bird that scratches a lot is what we call the Winter Robin. Actually a thrush, as is a robin, but the color is much more vivid. My mother used to call them Scratchers. She was always making up names for whatever. The perfectly even circle makes me think of chickens or something like that?

I have seen Robins around my yard ... we also have Brown Trashier ... but I have not seen it yet this year.
I have no chickens .... I wish ...
The soil is not scratched ... just the pine needles missing in a perfect circle ....

Artichokes are growing well.
I don't even look at them. They are getting water once a week ... that's all.
In this area the wind is also very high ...

Artichokes growing like monsters.
Only Green Globe survived. None of the Purple of Romagna.

Looking good, drthor!

At the beginning of this thread I said that I could grow Cardoon ... so I'd try to grow Artichokes too ...
The previous winters my Cardoon died down to the ground and grew back again in the spring ... but not last winter, it stayed green all the time (which it was stunning)

Now look !!!
It is almost as tall as my Crepe Myrtles ... but full of blooms !!!!

OMG !!

This message was edited Apr 20, 2012 10:21 AM

The bees are going to go crazy over those buds real soon !

Those are pictures from last year. Bees and butterflies madness ...

They may grow fine it's the production that could be an issue. But your in the same zone so you might get enough cool weather to get them to produce. Just make sure you put them where you really want them, their root system is something else...Cardoon shouldn't be an issue since it's grown for it's edible foliage.

I am delighted to find old friends and familiar names on this thread. My Artichoke plants are some of the most beautiful things in my yard, and productive, but I am having my first experience with slugs in them. It does seem like a perfect habitat, and so far, I am finding them even harder to get rid of than the gophers and squirrels were.

I have applied slug pellets and cut off the lower branches to dry off the ground, but still finding baby slugs around the fruits. Any comments will be appreciated, just as the tomato teaching has been.

Thanks,
Ernie

Rich,
Sorry i confused you. You cannot very well call the part you cut off and a cook a "Choke" as that is the name of the interior part that we eat. I guess i just assumed that every one old enough to read would understand that i was talking about the fruit of the Artichoke plant. Or maybe i should have said the artichoke on the artichoke plant. If you are still confused, i am talking about the spiny thing that turns in to a blossom if you do not pick it in time.

Ernie

Ernie-I get it! The part you eat. : )

Lisa,

Yes, one of the definitions for the word "FRUIT" is "The edible part of a Plant", so while fruits and vegetables are considered to be different, the artichoke that we eat is also the "fruit" of the artichoke plant.

If i had used the work Artichoke in that instance, instead of Fruit, it could have been understood to mean the slugs were found around the plant, not on the fruit of the plant.

But, after cutting off the lower fronds, and keeping the area underneath dryer, along with the poison i am not seeing slug damage now.

Im actually seeing snails for the 1st time in 20 yrs (I dd see a few last year). Jillions of them, but Im not seeing any Fire Ants, or Pill Bugs, for that matter. Strange.

Rich,
That is one of several definitions in the dictionary. If you are going to be a nit picker, you should know your nits.

I am a purist, too, when it comes to words. If you do not have your dictionary handy, check the reference icon at the top of your computer screen.

Fruit is the product of many different things. Even a brand of underwear is called Fruit of the Loom.

Ernie

Rich, You are arguing with the wrong person here as i did not write the definition, i just used it. It was necessary for me to diffentiate between the Artichoke plant and what is commonly called the Artichoke, that we eat, so in order to explain where the slugs were, I had to use a synonym for the edible part.
I hope this helps you understand the usage of this word, as well as the reason i used it. In ordinary circumstances i call them Artichokes, too.

Ernie

Below is the list of definitions for the word Fruit, from the Bing DICTIONARY

fruit
Definition
fruit[ froot ]NOUN
fruits plural

1. edible part of plant: an edible part of a plant, usually fleshy and containing seeds
2. ovary of plant: the ripened seed-bearing ovary of a plant. It is usually considered to be sweet and fleshy, as in plums, but may be dry, as in poppies, or be a simple edible supporting structure, as in strawberries.
3. produce: the produce of any plant grown or harvested by humans
"the fruits of the field"
4. product of something: the product or consequence of something done
"We are now seeing the fruits of our efforts."
5. offspring: the offspring of humans or animals ( dated )
6. spore-producing part: a spore-producing part of a plant
7. NOTE. I DELETED THIS DEFINITION AS IT IS A DEROGATORY TERM FOR SOME PEOPLE.

So Rich, I'm wondering how you growing of Artichokes has gone? I know you are 4 hours north of me, and do get cooler temps, but I want to try growing some so bad.

Jan

My artichoke plants are "alive".
I think their growth slowed down due to the heat !!
I am not really babying them. They are planted on a forgotten part of my garden in full sun and not so much water.
They are alive !

Here is a picture of the artichokes. So far so good.

is it me or does anyone else think the artichokes look like thistles????LOLOLOLO

Jan

I was going to do some research today to see, so thanks.

Well off to sams before the humidity gets too bad.

Jan

I have been thinking of growing an artichoke plant. A neighbor of my parents have 3 in their front flower bed that have grown there for several years as ornamentals. I don't think they even know what they are! They just come back every year, grow and bloom. The only reason I know what they were was because a friend near San Diego grew them in her garden years ago.

LhasaLover
Could you be talking about CARDOON?
Cardoon looks just like an artichoke, but you eat the stalks and not the flower.
They are gorgeous. This year mine were as tall as my Crepe Myrtle, also they are a magnet for butterflies and bees.

drthor

I grew cardoon when we lived up north, but the next door neighbor keep coming over and cutting it down, thinking I didn't know I had a weed growing, only one time did I get to see it blooming (they went on vacation)...LOL

I think the blooms are incredible, and the black bumble bees that it would be covered with was incredible, if you pair it with cat nip, you won't believe the drunk bees you will have...LOL, they fly off in a zig zag pattern as there is so much pollen from the two of them....

Jan

I honestly don't know... it has grown there through two owners. I would like to grow SOMETHING I can eat! LOL I have never grown anything I could actually eat before. That would be fun. ... but if it just looks pretty, that would be nice too. My center front flower bed is just about completely dead because of the drought. I think I could grow them there because I could carry a bucket of water out there daily for a plant or two. Where do I find seeds?

LhasaLover
I suggest that you don't grow the Cardoon in an area that you pass by constantly (like your front door), because they will go dormant in the winter (unless it is mild like 2012) and right now I trimmed them down to the ground because they were too tall and flipping over.
You can buy the seeds here: http://www.gourmetseed.com/c=LUxdfQ9OFq3Ag5polHYmAjOZj/category/gourmet_seed.vegetable_seed.cardoon/

How do you artichoke growers feel about their drought tolerance? If you look online, everyone insists they need lots of water, but I know for a fact they grow along railroad tracks in Australia where it gets way less rainfall than Alabama. I'm in need of a perennial or fruit for a dry partial shade and I'm wondering of artichokes will fit the bill. Part shade here is a lot more sun than many places get.

The artichokes you see in my pictures are planted in a "forgotten" area of my garden, by the garage.
Not much water there and full sun. So far they are alive.
My Cardoons lived after snow an cold weather. I hope the artichokes will do the same !
Still ... this is my first year trying.

here is a blog of a lady who is growing in your front landscaping. This might give you some ideas. http://www.outlawgarden.com/

Jan

Updated pictures of my artichokes.
They are growing very healthy after surviving a crazy hot summer.
We are not having any rain yet ... and I think they would be much bigger.
But they look good right now.

Updated pictures of my artichokes.
I planted them in a "forgotten" part of my garden ... and I keep forgetting about them !
But they don't mind me ... or the weather ... heat and cold ... they are growing really well.
I should have artichokes this year !!