Yesterday, I noticed that one of my Imperial Star artichokes was sending up a flower stalk. It won't be too long before we pick the first edible flower bud of the year. I have seven plants and all are doing well. Last year, I harvested my first artichoke in mid-August. This year, I planted them in an area of the garden that gets full sun, which may account for the 5-week difference. I should probably side-dress the plants with some additional compost and maybe apply a foliar feed once a week. Last year I did not feed my artichokes at all after planting, which may be the reason why they quickly faded after producing 3 or 4 flower buds. Hopefully that won't happen this year.
Growing artichokes successfully in our zone 6 climate can be somewhat challenging, which in many ways adds to the excitement in my opinion. If you're interested in hearing more about it, click here.
That's so cool. I've never seen an artichoke plant before now. Thanks for posting it.
ReplyDeletethanks, that answers my question from the other day! Now I know what they are...how do you eat/cook them? I've never known what to do with them!
ReplyDeleteI spotted my first artichoke buds this past week as well. I gave them a drink of kelp emulsion tea this past weekend and intend to periodically do that to keep them going as well as possible. Mine are growing in very large containers so the fertilization and watering is even more important.
ReplyDeleteThat is really pretty!
ReplyDeleteVery nice! Mine are still showing no signs of doing anything, but at least the plants are growing this year!
ReplyDeleteLucky you!! I didn't try growing artichokes again this year. It was just too much with starting the garden at the plots. I'm definitely going to try growing them again next year!
ReplyDeleteI'm curious to know how your figs are doing. I bought my first plants this year and, to my surprise, they're already covered in figs!
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful. I like artichokes but not enough to get them to grow in our climate.
ReplyDeleteCouves - You've got me beat! My fig trees are doing absolutely nothing! I need to read up on their care as I'm sure I must be doing something wrong.
ReplyDeleteThomas - It's probably one of those mysteries of the garden, because I certainly haven't done anything special for my figs but to transplant them into slightly larger pots and give them full sun all day.
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