Did you have any luck with the Violetta?

Peter, the Burpee catalog calls it a 'hardy' artichoke; on page 22 of the latest catalog it says "zones 3-8". So we bit and ordered three plants.

botanygal, we've tried Violetta and gotten very poor germination compared to Green Globe or Imperial Star. I think we've only ever gotten one choke off the plants because they grow slower than the Imperials.

Interesting, I don't see anything on the Burpee website about that.

I'm growing Colorado Star artichoke this year. I just started the seeds a few days ago.

I don't suspect the Imperial Star from last year survived, but the cardoon I planted seems to have made it.

I just visited Burpee's website and had the same reaction. Lulu hybrid, anyone tried it? I'm guessing it's a perrenial but can be grown as an annual in zone 3 ?? I would love to find an artichoke (or thornless delicious thisle) that would be hardy in my zone 4/5. Thanks!

jessica4b, the three Lulus all died. Totally froze and rotted away. The ground wasn't even frozen hard when they gave up. So far, 'Imperial Star' seems to work best to us season impaired folks!

I live near the coast, in SF's east bay, , so rarely freezing, not sure which zone. But we have green globe, violetto, and lulu all growing in the same spot. Lulu is vastly superior. Eating some of the 20+ flowers from three plants planted this spring tonight. Ignoring advice to cut off to stimulate root growth, as they are in giant pots. Gorgeous.

P.S. Unless you are creating a giant farm, buy live plants. Artichokes are weird from seed. They are gigantic, so you only need a few.

Yes. Live plants is the way to go.

No variety of artichoke is winter hardy in zone 4 or 5!! These are Mediterranean plants that thrive in mild winter climates so rarely recommended for zones below 7 unless treated as an annual. And because of that I would also recommend purchasing started plants, not growing from seed, if you expect any kind of harvest.

Well, that's disappointing. So here is how you do it in cold climate: Start from seed in Feb. Bring outdoor in april/may for "wintering"/dormancy and hope for flowers in summer! I am trying this year and man, are these plants slow growers.. They are still tiny little things. I might have to improve my setup next year to make them grow faster/bigger.

That's not necessarily true. I live in 5b SE Wisconsin. I was able to overwinter imperial star for three years before it died due to, yes, -52 windchills two years ago. Lol. It can be done, tho. Not every winter is a Polar Vortex. Basically I grew the suckers next to the house and then when fall came around, I cut it back to where they were 8 inches tall. Then, I tied them, wrapped them in newspaper and mulched the hell out of them; ground was covered leaves and then I covered them with those things they cover rose bushes with and then mulched on top of that. Yeah. Takes a little work, but it did come back three times. Just two plants so it wasn't like 200 chokes, more like 10-20. Created a micro-climate. The seeds were from Botanical Interests, btw.