Improved Green Globe Artichoke

Cynara scolymus 'Improved Green Globe'

Sku #8891

Harvest your own tender artichokes! Big flower buds that form at the tops of stalks may be cut for eating. If not cut, buds open to spectacular purple, thistle-like flowers, great for arrangements. Unique, highly textured grey-green foliage adds season-long interest to the landscape. Works well in containers. An herbaceous perennial.

Light Needs

Full sun

Light Needs
Water Needs

Water regularly - weekly, or more often in extreme heat or containers.
USDA Zone ?

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Detail

Key Feature

Edible, Ornamental Flowers

Light Needs

Full sun

Landscape Uses

Border, Coastal Exposure, Container, Cutting Garden, Kitchen Garden, Mass Planting

Watering Needs:Water regularly - weekly, or more often in extreme heat or containers.

Botanical Pronunciation:SIN-a-ra SKOL-i-mus

Plant type:Perennial

Deciduous/evergreen:Herbaceous

Sunset climate zones:8, 9, 14 - 24

Growth rate:Fast

Average landscape size:Fast growing, fountain-like form; reaches 3 to 5 ft. tall and wide.

Special features:Dramatic Foliage Color, Edible, Fast Growing

Foliage color:Gray-green

Blooms:Summer

Flower color:Purple

Flower attributesFlowers for Cutting, Showy Flowers

Garden styleContemporary, Mediterranean

Design IdeasThis plant is both ornamental and edible, so it may belong in the veggie garden or the landscape. Artichoke is thistle like and therefore is perfect in the Mediterranean style landscape. Unique foliage makes it visually interesting in the foliage color based landscape. An exceptional container plant for porch or patio with exceptional architectural value. Add to modern landscapes for this reason. It is often found in the traditional herb garden, parterre and potager.

Companion PlantsPomegranate (Punica); Bay Leaf (Laurus); Rosemary (Rosmarinus); Lavender (Lavandula); Basil (Ocimum)

Care

Care Information

Provide fertile, well-drained soil. Water deeply, regularly during the first growing season to establish an extensive root system. Once established, prefers regular water but tolerates moderate drought; foliage may die back in extreme heat, but new foliage will emerge as temperatures cool. Apply fertilizer in early spring.

History & Lore

History:

Though it's true point of origin is lost in antiquity, it is believed the artichoke came from Ethiopia before it spread throughout the eastern Mediterranean. It may have evolved from C. cardunculus, a type of very large milk thistle with edible stems. Plants were grown and consumed by the Romans but fell out of favor until the 16th century when it came into commercial cultivation in warmer regions of the New World.

Lore:

The edible part of this plant is the immature flower bud harvested at is fullest but before it has begun to open.

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