cardoon

[Hattie the Hen]

Hi SaltyMomma,

They are easy to grow from seed if you can't get a plant near you. Just give it enough room when you plant it out as it will eventually produce off-sets all round the original plant. It is a magnificent architectural plant in the garden. Mine grows to about 10>12ft tall but HiDelights seem to be even taller.

As to the taste, it is much nearer to that of artichokes than celery (you will be glad to hear ).

Good luck with finding one or growing your own from seed.


:rose Hattie :rose

 

[SaltyMomma]

As to the taste, it is much nearer to that of artichokes than celery (you will be glad to hear ).

YAY!!!

I'm hunting for some other seeds tomorrow so I'll definitely be adding these to my list. How do they do in sandy soil? (If that was already addressed in this thread... sorry! I've only skimmed a few pages so far, but I'll now be going back to read in more detail ) I've got my other veggies in raised beds, but I'd like to try these directly in the ground since they get so big.

 

[Hattie the Hen]

I think you will have to add plenty of good compost & maybe some good bagged soil to begin with. You will almost certainly have to water it well in summer. Once they are growing well I suspect they will be fine with just a winter time mulch of compost. I rather ignore mine here in the south of England & they are usually OK.
This last winter was our coldest in 20 years & it went on for 3 months so a lot of plants suffered badly. However most appear to be sprouting from ground-level in the last week as the weather is a lot warmer.

Lots of luck...!! :happy_flower

:rose Hattie :rose

 

[Reinbeau]

10 to 12' tall?? Oh, boy, I can't imagine it getting that big around here, however, the early start it's getting just might do it!

 

[Hattie the Hen]

10 to 12' tall?? Oh, boy, I can't imagine it getting that big around here, however, the early start it's getting just might do it!

Hi Ann,

Yours are still very young (I remember you told us you bought it from a plant sale, as a potted young plant, last year). Once they have put down good roots they will probably surprise you as they shoot skywards. It still comes as a shock to me every year. I originally put in one small plant seven years ago & now the patch of them is now approx. 4ft x 3ft with around5>6 stems every year. I live on a very windy hill so every now & then I loose some of the tallest stems (this happened last year in the middle of summer). It is in full sun for most of the day -- that is if we have any; last year it rained all the time). In dry hot summers I give it a good long watering once a week & that is enough.

It is one of my favourite plants ; I relish it's greyish blue-green leaves against the blue of my barn & yesterday I bought a sea holly to plant nearby. Nearby I have a tiny pond with rocks around it & some statues (copies of old 19th Century ones) covered with patches of lichens. I have pots of agaves & saxifrages tucked into the rocks to complete the picture in the summer. At the moment there are clumps of primroses in bloom & the clumps of thyme are greening up, after our punishing winter.

How did your newly installed gardens do through the winter?


:rose Hattie :rose

 

[Reinbeau]

They did fine over the winter, now they just have to survive those chooks! I need to invest in fencing, in a big way. As for the cardoon, I guess that end of that bed will be devoted to it from now on - I wonder if I can keep it going? What I did was put about 18" of salt marsh hay all around the center - but not immediately over it, so it had air flow. It died all the way to the ground, nothing lived above - but it's got six shoots now instead of only three, and they're really starting to poke up. Our weather isn't quite settled yet, it might snow this weekend, so I'll cover it with something - I hope early spring frosts won't harm the new shoots.

 

[Hattie the Hen]

About a year ago HiDelight & I made a pact to put any information to do with cardoons onto this thread so I am adding this new article in the hope that it lures her back to this forum.............. I know she occasionally peeks in...... .

I wish she would post again as I miss her input so much......!!

Well here it is. This sight is fascinating so make it one to SAVE....!!

http://weirdvegetables.blogspot.com/2008/05/dancing-with-doons.html

Edited to add a comment on my plants:

My large clump of plants DID SURVIVE this last dreadful winter, the seedling plants of both cardoons & artichokes did not, so I have to start those again.... When the snow eventually melted there was absolutely no sign of it's previous existence; usually there are a few 'nubbles' in the ground. Through early spring nothing appeared but as early summer & a little heat happened a few shoots broke surface & my heart sang. It is now about 2ft high & set fair to take over that poatch of the garden again; it is usually a good 5ft by now. So now I know they will survive minus 20*Celsius temperatures -- it was our longest, coldest winter for well over 20 years......!!



:rose Hattie :rose

 

[Reinbeau]

They bloom! I know you're not supposed to let them, but I'm not eating them (yet), and I couldn't resist it. I've read the bees love them, and the birds love the seeds, so I can't wait.

They're so big. It's been very dry here, and they're not too happy, but they're still almost as tall as me (5'6") and about four feet wide.

 

[Reinbeau]

Resurrecting the old post on Cardoon - mine has survived yet another New England winter. It's strongly growing out there, I'm sure our wonderful snow cover helped it this past season. This year I'm planning on harvesting some come August/September.

 

[digitS']

Reinbeau Ann! Reinbeau Ann! Reinbeau Ann!

i don't have anything to say about cardoon . . .

Reinbeau Ann! Reinbeau Ann! Reinbeau Ann!


digitS'