Topic: Globe Artichoke

[okra]

Have 4 mature globe artichoke plants (probably 2-3 years old) which I want to re-locate - any advice on the best month to move them?

[Tee Gee]

This article may help!

http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Content/G/Globe%20Artichoke/Globe%20Artichoke.htm

I don't know how old your plants are but GA's are short-lived perennials and should be replaced every 3-4 years.

It would seem that division might be your best bet as the best of these can be potted up or placed in a nursery bed/cold frame or cool greenhouse until next year when they can be planted out after the last frost! The old carcass of the plant/s can be destroyed/composted.

This means you could carry out this exercise once new suckers have formed between harvest time and Sept/October ( certainly before the onset of frosts)

I hope this helps!

[Beersmith]

Not quite on topic but I had an amusing chat with a nearby plot holder about globe artichokes a few days back.

I grow those mini sweet corn that get picked when about the size of a pork sausage. I mentioned this and suggested that although it was a nice vegetable, for the area of ground used the yield was perhaps the lowest out of everything I grow.

Not so he countered. Globe artichokes are worse. Five feet tall, four feet wide and you'd probably get fifteen to twenty chokes in a season. They look big but only about ten percent is edible.

But having observed how much we each liked the flavour of our chosen "wasteful" vegetable we declared it a score draw.

[Obelixx]

Tried twice to grow sweetcorn here but it requires far too much watering and produces scant cobs with poor kernels so I've planted globe artichokes which look stunning and need little care.   The only trouble is that fnally produced a great crop od edible heads just when ur daughter was visiting for 2 weeks. 

She can't stand the smell or the flavour so we now have a fine crop of beautiful purple flowers.   At least the insects are happy.

[saddad]

They are beautiful... found a newbie on our site had planted a row.. so asked her if she would like mine to eat and we cut four good heads.. she says she'll let me know if they are any good as I have also planted another dozen but don't eat them. I did bribe her with a good handful ofripe apricots...