Cynara cardunculus ~ Cardoon

Cynara cardunculus ~ CardoonCardoon is a tender columnar perennial treated as an annual with attractive but prickly deep lobed grey green foliage. Sturdy edible stalks sport large flowerheads that are also edible if unopened and bloom to thistle like purple flowers. Best if grown in rich, consistently moist well drained loamy soils. To harvest the stalks, wrap the inedible leaves around the stalks and blanched when stems reach 3', and the cut to the ground 4 6 weeks later. Type:

Cardoon is a tender columnar perennial treated as an annual with attractive but prickly deep-lobed grey-green foliage.  Sturdy edible stalks sport large flowerheads that are also edible if unopened and bloom to thistle-like purple flowers.  Best if grown in rich, consistently moist well-drained loamy soils.  To harvest the stalks, wrap the inedible leaves around the stalks and blanched when stems reach 3', and the cut to the ground 4-6 weeks later.

MAINTENANCE NEEDS: Low Maintenance.  Mulch in winter.  
LANDSCAPE USES:  Accents or Group Plantings, Borders, Wildlife Garden, Edible Garden, and Containers.  Potential diseases include gray mold, powdery mildew and root rot.  Watch for aphids, snails, slugs and blackfly. 

COMPANION PLANTS:  Dusty Miller, Snapdragon, Cushion Spurge

IMAGES: Acabashi, Globe artichoke Cynara cardunculus, Easton Lodge Gardens, Little Easton, Essex, England, CC BY-SA 4.0, (2) Acabashi, Cynara cardunculus, Easton Lodge Gardens, Little Easton, Essex, England 2, CC BY-SA 4.0, (3) Burkhard Achilles, 34.1-Cynara cardunculus, Artischocke, Kloster Michaelstein, 02-08-2015, CC BY-SA 4.0, (4) Joanbanjo, Camp de penques al Poble Nou, CC BY-SA 3.0, (5) Rudolphous, 20210620 Hortus botanicus Leiden - Cynara cardunculus (leaves), CC BY-SA 4.0

*As plants have ranges in appearance they may not appear as the images shown.