on the contrary artichokes are easy to grow. they love an organic rich soil and some water on hot days. You need to cut them back after flowering. After a couple of 3 you can dig them up and split them...If you dont split them after 5-6 years they have an "off" year where they will produce nothing, but will produce the next year. All this information I got from a guy at a seed savers meeting who orginally came from the artichoke capital of the USA!

Thanks Mercury12! I was wondering why I got nothing from my one plant this year, and I do believe it is year 5. I was going to pull it out, but guess I'll split it instead.