Mentioning this because of your location in NoVA. Years ago DeBaggio's herb farm had artichoke varieties and a whole protocol for growing them. My memory is vague but I seem to recall (late 1990s) one of the owners saying they sold starter plants in late February, before the nursery had properly opened for the season, but generally after the risk of extreme cold. It seems the point was to get them flowering before hot weather because that will reduce the quality of the buds. It was so long ago I had this call I can't remember if it was before or after they moved to Centreville...in fact one of the first things I called them for. (asking whether they had artichokes) Around that time frame though, I never actually visited the Arlington location but I know I called it a couple times. In fact, now that I think about it I think the reason I _didn't_ visit was they told me I was too late to get them that year. Maybe it was something like you had to sign up in late February, you got them in late March before the nursery opened, etc. etc. So, you might contact them to see what they are advising these days. The cardoon can definitely survive milder winters in the DC area, I've had a few in my gardens, but not the more severe ones. I think it's considered a bit hardier though. This post was edited by davidrt28 on Thu, Nov 13, 14 at 11:26

Hvae you done the shampoo thing? If you are concerned that the dirt is too hard, the surfactants in the shampoo will allow better water absorption. Have you had a soil test? By the way, I doubt anyone is reading this thread because it takes too darn long to scroll to the bottom to see what was said. And no way are they are going to read through the whole saga. I get an email alert that you said something (because I had commented) and I can click to the bottom. But anyone new to the thread would have to scroll down a long time. You might start another thread for future questions and concerns. And then someone other than me might have ideas for you.

Looks beautiful! I'm in Richmond and I usually do the last fertilization in early to mid December. The ground doesn't seem to freeze until around January. With urea (46-0-0), if you put down 2 lb. per 1000 sq ft, that will give you just under 1 lb of nitrogen per K, which is what you're aiming for. Weigh it out. I use a bathroom scale: stand on it holding an empty bucket and then putting product in and weighing myself again, until I get it to the desired weight. Be sure to water it in after applying. You might put it down right before a rain and that will save you having to use sprinklers.

Hey Cyn427, Nice to see u here. Yes, dealing with terrible clay soil thats not draining:( My existing older beds are fine, but i have other perennials there, so trying to make space for the roses. Erica, Atlast rose is another one that i moved recently to the older bed. It was struggling in the new bed and then i figured from experts here that its the poor drainage issue.