you mite've seen them at HEB or WallyWorld ... they look like this:
most of the store boughts come from Califorkneeah (as the Gov sez it) ... Considered a cool-season crop, they grow best at a 75°F daytime temperature mean with 55°F nighttime temperatures. They have an effective adaptive range of 45° to 85°F ... its not easy getting them started in Texas but once done, this perennial will produce the edible flower only during the second and subsequent years. If you manage to get them started in Texas (away from the coastal areas where they don't do well), giving them some protection (shade) from the full sun during mid and afternoon, they will do better.
It requires good soil, regular watering and feeding plus frost protection in winter. Rooted suckers can be planted each year so that mature specimens can be disposed of after a few years, as each individual plant only lives a few years. The peak season for artichoke harvesting is the spring, but they continue to be harvested throughout the summer, with another peak period in mid autumn.
Prepare the soil with rock minerals & lots of manure compost (or peat compost humus). Spray regularly with fish emulsion to stimulate this slow growth plant. Excellent drainage is also needed but artichoke need plenty of moisute. After the last harvest, cut the stems off at or below the soil surface & cover over with a deep layering of mulch. Plant that don't bear buds need not be cut but must be protected from freezing weather.
Once you get them started, it's best to use rootstock instead of seeds to increase their numbers. A healthy plant can be dug up, the root divided into two or more parts and replanted. Root sections should be set at 6" - 8" deep in the soil. Irrigate the soil thoroughly before planting.
If you don't have a source of rootstock, seeds are your only option but seeds are less reliable than rootstock. In our effort to get the plants started in this area, we found that for every 8-9 seeds we planted only 1 or 2 germinated. Germination will take 10-20 days in the most ideal situations, ours seem to take from18-30 days if they came up at all.
We used globe artichoke seeds from variety of seed dealers but had the best luck (1 germinate per every 3 seeds planted) using those from the Victory Seed Co. in Mollalla, Oregon. For their website, go here:
www.victoryseeds.com Potential pests include snails, slugs, caterpillars, aphids, and earwing flies which can be controled with citrus-based sprays. Although wasps don't nest in the foliage, they will patrol vegetation in search of fodder for their pupae (wasp larvae) which also helps in control of some harmful insects.
There are essentially two kinds of artichokes, the Jerusealem & the Globe. Globe artichokes are what you find in stores & is what we have in our garden.
Globe artichoke plants can become large: four to five feet tall and wide, with long, heavily serrated silvery green leaves. Unopened flower buds resemble large pinecones. Buds can grow up to three to four inches in diameter, are rounded at the base, and tapering to the tip or blocky in shape. Many spiny, pointed, green bracts (small, leaf-like structures) surround the hidden flower parts. An open flower is shown below:
Artichokes are cooked whole using a large saucepan, Dutch oven, or kettle. The buds should be placed upright in the pan with water added to a depth of two to three inches. Cover the pan and cook at a strong boil for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the bracts can be easily pulled off the bud. Drain the water. Artichokes are eaten by pulling the lower bracts off first and working toward the center of the bud. The fleshy base of each bract is eaten by biting and scraping with the teeth, usually after dipping it in butter or a prepared sauce.
We prefer dipping bract (petals) and heart morsels in a hot lemony butter. Others like sauces, which can be found if you google globe artichoke + recipe.
Once the outer bracts have been removed one at a time (this takes some patience) the center of the bud or the “choke,” a fuzzy, spiny, and inedible center is exposed. It should be removed by using a spoon to scrape it out. Below it is the large floral receptacle or “artichoke heart,” the most sought after edible part of the flower bud that the bracts were attached to.
Artichokes are nutritious, providing a significant source of folic acid, magnesium, iron, and potassium. Each artichoke has less than 40 calories, and provides about two grams of protein and nine grams of carbohydrates.
Artichokes are sold in stores (like the bud pic at top of the page), you can also find frozen immature artichoke portions in the frozen veggie aisle at HEB/WalMart, and on the canned veggie aisle you'll find canned or jars of them but packed in oil with added flavorings, they won't taste like they do fresh from the garden.