Good for you! Hope you figured it out. I discovered people growing artichokes last year around Madison. No clue what variety. Wish I could remember the farmer ... selling at Stoughton farmers market.

Keep us posted, I'm wanting to try this in the future. I'm thinking about trying them in a permanent cold frame. In warmer zones they are perennial which would be excellent.

As a follow-up, these guys were a big success this year!! My husband and I literally couldn't keep up with eating them all.

I hardened them off sometime in early June and put them in the ground after that. They looked pitiful for about two weeks sitting in the ground. The outside leaves kept turning yellow and dying even though new leaves were also growing out of the center. Then, after they sat there for two weeks or so, they took off!

They send a big shoot up out of the center with the biggest artichoke. When you cut that one off, the plant sends out lots (LOTS) of shoots out of the lower branches with more artichokes. Some of the lower branch artichokes were just as big as the main one.

After more reading, I think the success was due to the mild summer we had here. Artichokes are grown in the foggy, cooler, coastal areas of California, not in the hot, sweltering desert area. I think they actually flourished because it was cool here this summer. We had maybe only a few days above 90. So WIgardenrookie - I don't know that a cold frame would be helpful or not. Perhaps through the winter it would help the plants survive, but I definitely don't think it would be necessary (or helpful) in the warmer months.

Also, I didn't do a "cold treatment" to the plants in the spring like some sources said, but I had them in our breezeway for a while, and it was pretty cold this spring, so maybe that was enough of a cold treatment to trick them into thinking they were in their second year and to produce artichokes.

I will probably try to bundle the plants in straw or something for the winter to see if I can get them to survive into next year.

I attached a picture from late August when there were many artichokes on the plants!

I have some seeds I hope to try this year. I read in a magazine that some people also dig them and store them inside for the winter like one would do for tender bulbs.
Northwoodswis

Those are gorgeous!

I have some seeds I started this last week in hopes they will produce this summer (though I'm north of you...) I'm following the tips in this blog post about growing artichokes in Minnesota.
I hope you update with whether the straw works! I was thinking about trying to bring them inside to overwinter in my basement, straw would be easier. :)