Globe artichoke
Cynara cardunculus
Also called Artichoke
Garden plant · Herbs, veg & fruitCut the heads while they are still tight. One left to open is a thistle flower — beautiful, and inedible.
Care at a glance
- Ease
- Medium
- Water
- Every 5 daysWater the ground — water at the base, in the morning, not over the leaves.
- Light
- Full sun
- Feed
- Every 60 days
- Humidity
- Average
- Hardiness
- Hardy — a cold winter RHS H5, to -15°C
- Size
- 2 m tall · 1.25 m across
- Lifecycle
- Perennial
- Origin
- The Mediterranean
Is it safe for pets and people?
PetsNothing recorded against it
No animal-poison authority lists this plant either way.
PeopleNot checked yet
Nobody has checked this one against a source for us yet, so treat it as unknown rather than safe.
Checked against ASPCA, RHS and Johnny's Selected Seeds on 2026-07-31. Where a source says nothing, we say nothing.
A guide, not veterinary or medical advice. If a pet or a person has eaten a plant and you are worried, call your vet or doctor now — don’t wait for signs to appear. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
First signs of trouble
- Matt-black aphids packed into the folds of the young grey leaves and around the base of a swelling bud, before the bud scales open.Blackfly · pest
- Ragged windows chewed through the young grey spring leaves, with slime on the underside where they shelter by day.Slugs and snails · pest
- The crown fails to shoot in spring and the centre gives softly under a finger — a wet winter in heavy ground, not the cold, is what took it.Winter crown rot · disorder