GardenPerennial Plant · zones 7–10 · 9 varieties
Globe artichoke
Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus
Asteraceae — the same plant family as head lettuce, leaf lettuce, common sunflower, purple coneflower and 12 more here. Relatives share pests and diseases, which is why rotation plans group by family.
This is globe artichoke, grown for the flower bud you eat. Jerusalem artichoke is an unrelated plant — we cover that one as sunchoke.
Globe artichoke (Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus) is a perennial plant for USDA zones 7–10. It wants full sun and pH 6.5–8 soil, with about 1–2 in of water weekly. It matures in about 75–90 days from setting out a transplant. Watch for aphids and curly dwarf virus. Below: its full sourced profile from 7 extension sources, plus a planting calendar timed to your frost dates.
Typical dates for zone 6b — set your zone or ZIP for yours. This calendar assumes the crop is started indoors. Timing is a guide from the crop's sourced growth stages; confirm with your local frost dates and extension before you sow.
What we will not put a number on
We do not give a feeding rate for this crop, and that is deliberate rather than a gap. The figures published by extension services are pounds of nitrogen per acre for a production field — they do not convert safely to a raised bed or a pot without knowing your soil test and your fertilizer's analysis, and guessing errs toward burning roots. It is also why every chart you find online disagrees with the next one.
We give watering as a depth per week rather than gallons per plant, because that is how it is actually measured and how the published figures are written. A gallons-per-plant number depends on your spacing, your soil and whether the plant is in a pot — so it would look more precise than it is.
Site & soil
- Hardiness zones
- 7–10
- Sun
- Full sun
- Soil pH
- 6.5–8
- Soil texture
- Loam, Well drained
- Frost tolerance
- Half hardy
No published figure for the temperature frost starts to hurt it, the temperature that would kill it and a heat limit. We looked — where a number is missing here it is missing from the research, not skipped. The crop’s frost and heat tolerance above still applies.
The plant
- Mature height
- 3–5 ft
- Mature spread
- 2–3 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderateest
- Spacing in row
- 18–36 in
- Between rows
- 24–36 in
- Planting depth
- 0.25 in
- Container size
- 5–15 gal — pick within the range for how this crop is grownest
- Support
- Self-supportingest
- Grown from
- Transplant, Division
Water & feeding
- Water needs
- Moderate
- Water per week
- 1–2 in/wk
- Critical water
- Floweringest
- Feeding
- Moderate
Timing & fruiting
- Days to maturity
- 75–90 days from transplant
- Years to first harvest
- 0–2 yr
- Chill hours
- 250–500 hrs
- Harvest cues
- Flower buds
Planted again for autumn
- Set plants out by
- early Aug typical · zone 6b
75 days to maturity from setting a plant out — that is what our sources measure for this crop, so this is a date for planting out and not a sowing date, counted back from the first frost above. Not published for anywhere in particular: it is your own frost date and this crop's own figure, which is why it works wherever you are. A days-to-maturity figure is a catalog number for a good season rather than a promise, and a cold month moves it.
Edible parts per source: flower.
Compiled from the extensions cited below. Which ones actually show up depends on your region — your extension's local list is the last word.
| Variety | Type | Habit | Days | Color | What it is known for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado Star | Annual Type | 75 | Purple | ||
| Emerald F1 | Globe Green | 180–360 | Green | Cornell Cooperative Extension - Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners records this asno thorns · takes the cold · takes the heat | |
| Green Globe Improved Heirloom | Globe Green | 150–180 | Green | Botanical Interests describes this asgives a heavy crop · no thorns | |
| Imperial Star | Annual Type | 85 | Green | ||
| Northern Star | Globe Green | 300 | Cornell Cooperative Extension - Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners records this astakes the cold | ||
| Opera F1 | Globe Purple | Upright | 75–90 | Purple | |
| Purple of Romagna Heirloom | Globe Purple | 75–90 | Purple | ||
| Tavor | Annual Type | 84 | Bicolor | Johnny's Selected Seeds describes this asno thorns | |
| Violetto Heirloom | Globe Purple | 85 | Purple | Cornell Cooperative Extension - Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners records this astakes the cold |
- Cornell University Garden-Based Learning
- Johnny's Selected Seeds
- Missouri Botanical Garden
- NC State Extension
- University of California Statewide IPM Program
- University of Maine Cooperative Extension
- Utah State University Extension
We compile bare facts from these university-extension and horticultural sources, never copied prose. 18 of the 22 values on this page carry a citation. The rest are marked est; hover one and it says why — either nobody publishes a figure we could point at, or a person set it and attached no source. Figures vary with climate and seed source; confirm with your local extension before you buy.
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