Jan–MarApr–JunJul–SepOct–Dec
Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
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Plant · P-367
Globe Artichoke
Cynara cardunculus var scolymus
Globe artichoke is unusually multi-purpose: the immature flower bud is the classic vegetable, but the stems cook like celery, the young leaves and roots are also edible, and the dried flowers work as a rennet substitute in cheesemaking. Its leaves carry cynarin, a compound with a genuinely strong medicinal record for liver and gall bladder function and cholesterol, making this as much a medicinal plant as a food crop. It is cut back to the ground every year rather than replanted, and that yearly cut of a three-to-five-foot thistle also works as cattle feed or silage, or as chop-and-drop mulch if left where it falls.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 7–10
- Soil
- Sand · Silt · Loam
- Moisture
- Well-Drained · Moist
Vertical layer
Herbaceous- Soil pH
- 6.5–7.5
- Plant type
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 3–5 ft
- Mature spread
- 24–36 in
- Plant spacing
- 3–5 ft
- Root type
- Tap
- Spread pattern
- Seed
Keep exploring
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Alfalfa
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Aloe Vera
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Amaranth Greens
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Angelica
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The deeper layer
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- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
- Locked ecological function
- Byproduct
- Locked ecological function
Behind the record
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