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You would certainly love the extra-ordinarily handsome silver grey leaves of the “Globe Artichokes” in your garden. I would strongly recommend growing ‘Globe Artichokes’ (Cynara Scolymus) if you are looking for some ornamental vegetable plants for your vegetable garden in the backyard.

Tempting attraction of this plant is not the only reason for my falling in love with it but it has helped me deal with pests in an excellent way also. One of my gardener friend once recommended that I must grow ‘Globe Artichokes’ as it will eat up all the pests in my garden. I preferred to follow her wise advice and I observed that these plants become an excellent breeding ground for ‘ladybirds’. It is no less surprise to find that within a period of few days only all the pests in your garden are eaten up. I therefore call the Globe Artichokes as the “Pest Controllers“.

‘Globe Artichokes’ plant has a main stem and offsets at its sides. It is an innate nature of growing and you should never cut them off. You should rather divide the plant in a systematic manner. Insert a spade carefully between the main stem and its offsets and drive it down. You should now pull it free so that a new plant will take a shape subsequently. However, you may need a little trimming as well.

While trimming take all necessary precautions. Cut the old, big leaves off in such a way that the smaller leaves remain in the middle. You may also trim the roots if it seems proper. Removing any woody parts from the roots would be better in all respects. Once you are done with this procedure, you will find that something extraordinarily beautiful has taken shape in your vegetable garden.

Generally, the ‘Globe Artichokes’ plants have a tendency to grow in every type of soil but it is always better to grow them in sandy soil for better results. You should prefer sheep manure, and potash as most suitable fertilisers. Plants really get more nutrients from these sources. Addition if potash will help the plant to facilitate lovely flowers and it will bud up nicely. Actually, it is the part of this plant, which is eaten.

I never miss an opportunity to recommend growing this plant to all my known ones and I am sure you are going to love it too.