How to grow globe artichokes

Globe artichoke’s purple-blue flowers are breathtakingly beautiful and bees love them. Plant one for blooms if you like, but most gardeners grow them to eat the immature buds.

Cut away the stems and tough outer leaves, boil in salted water until the bracts pull away easily, and serve with lemon and butter dip.

SOW AND GROW

Transplant: September to November Position: Full sun

Harvest: 20-28 weeks

GET STARTED

It is possible to grow artichokes from seed, but it takes several years for plants to establish and be productive – and frankly hardly anyone bothers. You’re better off taking offsets (side shoots that grow at the base of mature plants) in autumn and winter or plant seedlings (available from garden centres) in spring.

STEP-BY-STEP

Cut offsets (approximately 15-30cm high) with some roots attached from the base of a parent plant. Trim leaves back by half. Plant offsets and/or seedlings 60-100cm apart in a sunny position with fertile soil. Water well and mulch. In very sunny gardens protect young plants initially with shade cloth.

GROWING TIPS

Artichokes are sun-loving perennials that need space – they can reach nearly 2m in height and need about 1m in space around each plant! They are frost tender in their first year or two, and although established plants can tolerate a frost, they do best in regions which offer Mediterranean conditions: cool winters and hot, dry summers.

Liquid feed with seaweed, comfrey and worm liquid teas fortnightly, and side dress with potash to encourage flowering.

Harvesting begins in spring when buds are tight but plump – cut when the outer bracts are just unfolding; if you let them open any more, or flower, it’s too late to eat them.

The foliage dies away in the winter, so in autumn cut back old leaves and stems, and mulch well to protect plants.

STANDOUT VARIETIES

‘Purple Globe’ is an Italian heirloom variety with purple buds. It’s considered a little hardier than the green variety ‘Green Globe’, but the latter has larger, globe-shaped buds, with thicker fleshy bracts. You sometimes see ‘Green Globe Imp’ which is almost spine-free (much easier for harvesting), or ‘Purple De Jesi’ which produces attractive dark purple globes.

TROUBLESHOOTING

Slugs are partial to artichokes, so pick them off regularly. Aphids are partial to them too, so blast off with you hose to prevent them getting established.