Last spring, I picked up a couple of artichoke seedlings at a nursery in Leavenworth. I'd never grown any before and thought it would be fun to try. It turns out they grew great last summer and we harvested nearly 20 artichokes from those two plants. And boy, were those artichokes tasty!
The neat thing about artichokes is that they look so cool in the landscape. The plants have gray-green leaves that are quite striking. Even though I grew ours in the veggie garden, they would add a lot of interest to any garden bed. They are a perfect example of a suitable plant for "edible landscaping."
I picked up some artichoke seeds recently and planted a few indoors last week. They are just starting to germinate. According to the seed packet, they need to be started quite early so the artichokes will mature in our short growing season. I hope I've allowed enough time for them to grow. They will be planted out in the garden after the danger of frost has passed, which is generally around mid-May.
I'll let you know how they do this year with occasional updates.
