It's amazing how suddenly the weather changes here in New England. Last week's heat and humidity has given way to constant rain and much cooler temperatures. The tomato and melon vines are fading quickly while the broccoli and spinach have taken off. All in all, I've been really good about getting most of my fall crops planted on time this year. However, I've neglected to sow my radishes and winter wild greens (mache and claytonia). Hopefully I'll get around to it this weekend.
Among the plants that faded quickly in August were my Imperial Star Artichokes. They had produced abundantly in late June and July, but now the few buds that do appear are just too small to be worth picking. I've never been kind enough to allow any of them to fully mature and open. The the other day, I spotted this one. Hopefully, there's enough heat left in the year to coax this bud into revealing its violet beard.
You are evil to post this, LOL! For the 2nd year my artichokes were horribly disappointing, not getting over 18 inches high and pathetic looking - no more for me! Remember that when I post a pick this spring of the darn seeds I started again LOL...
ReplyDeleteThe thistle like flowers are stunning. I've grown a couple of plants from seed this year but not so much as a bud has appeared. I'm holding out for next year!
ReplyDeleteI hope it flowers fully too so you can post that beautiful picture for us to enjoy!
ReplyDeleteI transplanted my artichoke plants out of the large containers they were in - into a new garden bed last Monday. They had stopped producing buds so hopefully they will use the remainder of the season to settle into their new home - so that they can be strong enough to overwinter successfully. I ended up roughing them up quite a bit in the process (moving giant plants and huge containers is not an easy task!) but they look like they survived okay. Wish me luck in creating a permanent artichoke bed. :D