I planted 2 artichoke plants this spring. They've grown quite big and I did what the instructions said and kept taking off the baby chokes that tried to grow. I see that the instructions say, in autumn, cut off the dead leaves and cover the crown with leaves or bracken.
My plants have a few dead outer leaves, but the inside ones are fresh and green and seem to still be growing. It seems cruel to cut them down, but is that what I'm meant to do. And what exactly is the crown?
(It might be a bit early to do this, but I'm going away for 3 months next week so I'm assuming better too early than too late)