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I have sown cardoons recently. I know the blanched stems are edible, but I primarily want the flowers which dry very well for winter decoration.

Anyone have experience with cardoons?

They grow merrily in my garden border, I don't eat them either!
They have kept a little foliage over the winter, and grow fast!

Hi Bjberry,They are easy to grow, but they grow really big so give em loads of room. I grew mine for 2 years and had to mattock them out .They had  really deep  tough roots. I have lifted elderberry bushes easier. :)
I said never again  ;D

I'm interested in this as I've tried them in my borders before but the slugs always get to them before they put on any real growth. I also want them for the decorative effect.

I planted mine two years ago. They get big, so give it plenty of space. They like light and air - mine didn't do so well last year under the hedge - and don't like frost so keep it under cover till all danger of frost is past, then plant it out. Mine didn't flower the first year, but it had several flowers last year. I thought the frost had killed it, but it's coming back strongly, and I've moved it somewhere sunnier. Once it's established, you can propagate it by cutting away the offshoots round the base.

just did a little research,as i wasn't sure what a cardoon is,and found this

If you grow it, don't let it go to seed, or neighbors (and farmers) from miles away--and maybe some county authorities--will be mightily peeved at you.

growers beware :-\ ;)

I don't know why, as the seeds aren't small enough to be spread very effectively by the wind. It's also frost-sensitive, liked by slugs, and I wouldn't expect the seedling survival rate to be anything but very low.

I haven't found my cardoons to be particularly frost sensitive, but I grow the ornamental variety 'Florist's Cardy' which has large flowers so perhaps that is a bit more hardy.

I've grown them at home for many years and have not found them to self seed at all, they do make large clumps which can be divided to produce new plants.

The ones at the front of my plot are left for the birds to have the seeds which are the size and shape of pine nuts, they love them!

You can put straw around the stems in winter held in place by cardboard and string. Similar to what you would  do with the big ferns..What I did notice was that one of mine had the top chopped off by the grandkids larking about and this then grew lots of smaller heads from leaf joints instead of the great big head at the top. So if you wanted smaller heads it might be an idea to nip the tip out of one once its grown a bit.. To put the size of these into perspective I would say mine reached 5 to 7  foot high by 3 to 4 foot spread or more each plant.

photo taken in October


photo taken in February


photo taken in August

I have grown cardoons (from seed) for about seven years and they have always done very well.  They are hardy here in Birmingham.
My husband is Italian so we do eat the stems, but we don't blanch them. We only eat the stems early in the summer, afterwards they get a bit stringy.
I leave the flower heads on all winter because I like the look of them.  We also sell them at our summer fair and they are very popular with flower arrangers.

Great photos, betty.

I have a cardoon in the back garden, intended as an ornamental feature. It was in a fairly shady place and not doing well, so I moved it a few weeks ago to a more open and sunny position and it now seems to be perking up. It seems to have survived the winter very well and to be pretty tough.

Fab pics! And what healthy plants and just love the colour of the flower head, so vibrant. Something else for me to aim for ........

I have kept one plant as a specimen flowering plant at the back of the border to entice bumble bees to your garden or allotment.

It is also possible to dry the flower heads. If you cut off the flower head before it fully opens, it is possible to dry it retaining the blue colour.

As it can be frost tender in the North of the UK, consider protection from the winter frost and rain.

There are a few photos of cardoon flowers and bees as well as a dried flower head which kept the fabulous blue colour, on my web site under cardoon.