Dogridge - I have them. They aren't perfectly suited for the Raleigh area but you can coax a few buds out of them in most years. I grew mine from seed and still have a few of them going. But this year I also bought a few seedlings from Campbell Road Nursery on Tryon Rd between South Raleigh and Cary (almost to Walnut Street, Crossroads shopping area).

When I started mine from seed I started them in early November and kept them over the winter and let them endure the cold nights (I brought them in for hard freezes) while still in small pots, in a tray, maybe 4 inches tall. They grew very big and thick the next year but did not flower (you eat the flower buds) like the seed packet said they would. It took two winters to finally do the trick. They didn't produce buds the size of the ones in the store, more like the size of a large lemon. But they tasted good and were less stringy then storebought 'chokes'.

My down-the-road-around-the-corner neighbor Tammy (tamelask) has grown them also. And a good friend and big time farmer once told me that way back in colonial times NC and VA were the artichoke capital of America (before anyone noticed CA).

If our summers are way hot they tend to wimper out so you can't count on them. And they take up a lot of space so you have to be careful where you plant them (about 4-5 foot square!)

One thing I will say about them though, they are one easy plant to manhandle. You can accidently chop off the main root or most of the roots and the tiny fragment of green plant left over will spring back to life and grow big by springtime. I move mine around a lot and dig them up and forget about them for MONTHS!!! and when I finally plant them they spring back to life.

Cardoon (their close relative) is much tougher here in the Triangle and easier to find.

They all like rich sandy loam soil so if you have clay you want to build up a deep bed of the good stuff before you plant them. I don't pamper them with food and water. I plant mine beside my tomatoes (for shade in the summer) so they get whatever the 'maters get.

Good luck

Thanks for the advice! I never realized they grew so big. I saw a lovely garden on 'Victory Garden' that had a grouping of Cardoon and they were quite large. We do have horrible clay soil, but the veggie garden has had lots of amendments, so maybe I will give them a try next year. Sounds like you should plant them in the fall? (from transplants) That's when I see all the Cardoon being put out in the display gardens.

yeah- i'd put them out in the fall. they don't like the heat and do better with a winter in front of them to get established. when i had them a number of yrs ago, they were in amended clay and did ok for about 3 yrs, then died. since i've tried to get them going an number of times and failed in the clay (which now is not as amended since i have established stuff and it's hard to reamend the whole bed). i planted a couple in my sandier soil further down this fall and those 2 are doing well. i know that's where the milk thistle always does the best, too, and they're related. they do get really big. they are quite a statement- so pretty! based on how many i see around this yr, maybe even the big boxes will have them next yr. wouldn't that be nice?

I'm actually in the Charlotte area. But just as a note on starting from seed...wrap the seeds in a damp towel for about two weeks and keep in the fridge, prior to actually planting them. They should get a mold around them. When you do this, it sort of wakes the seeds up. Every seed that I planted germinated after doing this, the first year I had only 1 out of about 12 germinate. Unfortunately, I never got to eat the ones that I planted, but I have to admit that they are beautiful when they bloom.

TJ gave me a rooted start early last year - it produced two buds - one I ate (so delicious), one I let go to seed - of which I have planted half in the cold frame this fall, a quarter planted inside with warmth, and the rest for waiting in an airtight bag if those two methods don't give me anything.

I read somewhere that tho they take a few years to get going they should last for six. Another place said to sink a shovel on one side to sever the side roots and that they would send up more - If I ever get more than one plant I will try that. Both of us have lived on the other coast and know that what they sell in the grocery stores here are culls and practically inedible. If you live on our E coast you will have the perfect marine influence weather in which to grow them. Inland here we just let luck happen.

If nothing else the salad-plate-size purple thistle flower is worth it and the furry blue-gray prickle-tipped leaves are gorgeous with rain drops on them any time of the year.

Nancy the nancedar

My artichoke story (which was posted here years ago) began when I saw an old packet of seed on clearance at Logan's. The packet had an official looking sticker attached to it stating that a germination test had been conducted and that 66% germination rate could be expected. Since I had never grown artichokes I didn't know if that was high or low but I figured with my track record if only half of them sprout - I would probably end up with a dozen or so plants after the first year (most would die under my care I assumed).

Every one of the 200 seeds in the packet sprouted!!! I had artichoke seedlings out the whazooo. I was giving them away to total strangers, trading them for any other kinda plant. Eventually I even sold some at the flea market. I think I kept about 5 of them for myself and only two of them produced buds and only one of them survives today. I have since dug it up and divided it. One other hold out from that original seed packet is still alive but it has never fruited even now that they are on their fourth year. I bought two new ones from Campbell Road so I have a row of six in the garden. None of them are large enough to bloom this year but we'll see - they haven't done anything like what the literature says they'll do so far.