Good artichoke seeds left, right the quality I had in former years
This year I harvest artichoke seeds of a superior quality, compared to my normal harvest. The seeds are hard with a smooth surface, and of a darker shade than usual. Normally the germination of my artichoke seeds are very low, but still allowing to grow a few plants. From this years seeds I expect a much higher germination rate, as seeds are obviously better ripened. I also harvested more seeds than usual, a little more than 150 seeds of the best quality. The mother plant is the old danish Serridslevgaard, very rare and difficult to obtain, but every seed growing will be its own new variety. I expect a broad variation in the seedlings. Most of them will probably be inferior to their mother, but with some luck a few better plants might appear. The mother plant is in the elite when it comes to hardiness, many of the seedlings are likely to inherit this trace – but not all.
The inferior seeds to the right in the picture are of a lighter color. A nail on the surface of the seed shell let you feel the difference. Inferior seeds are not slippery like a ripe filbert nut, but gives resistance to moving the nail along the shell.
How come the artichoke seeds developed so well this year? I believe it’s due to the warm unusually dry late summer we had on Amager, my island.
In the toad's garden 
November 17, 2009 at 17:36
Hi Skrubtudsen,
I am starting a home garden in Graz, soutern Austria. Here the summer is quite hot, but in winter we easily get to -15°C, and I guess that lower temps can be reached easily.
A few years ago I was trying to plant Artichokes in Germany, but they did not survive -10°C outside.
Would it be possible to get some of the seeds you have, even from previous years, in order to see how an Artichokes that ripens up there in the North fares when taken back to the South?
I would really appreciate.
Leo
November 19, 2009 at 20:25
Hello Leo.
Here people sometimes have luck with a seedling of ‘Green Globe’. It is an old cultivar with a lot of varieability, also when it comes to hardiness.
I’ll send you an email,
Søren.
November 19, 2009 at 23:46
I’m going to try artichokes next spring. I’m looking at potential varieties — I live in Anchorage, Alaska, where we are zone 4 most years (once in a while zone 3), and have a short but intense growing season. I’ve seen artichokes grown here in large pots as annuals, having been started indoors. Is your suggestion to Leo on the “Green Globe” variety what you’d suggest for me to try? I may want to try several.
November 22, 2009 at 17:23
Hello Barbara.
Leo need artichokes to overwinter outside. For him hardiness is the most important in an artichoke strain. I guess your climate is simply too cold for any artichoke to survive? You would probably go for annual cultivation of artichokes, looking for the earliest harvest in the first year.
Looking in
http://vegvariety.cce.cornell.edu/
Imperial Star Globe Artichoke seems to be the best offer for you. But if you have the garden space, why not try as many varieties as you can find. Learn by yourself what works in your garden.
Rose Marie from Nichols Garden Nursery in Oregon care about vegetable varieties for Alaska. She has a blog:
The Gardener’s Pantry
http://nicholsgardennursery.wordpress.com/
She might have a suggestion for you.
February 19, 2010 at 16:28
hello, i from malaysia. I want to try to planting artichokes, but i dont have artihokes seed. I will share my tropical plants in my garden. I hope your kindness.
February 19, 2010 at 18:57
Hello Zuraidah.
I’ll send you some seeds.
March 7, 2010 at 17:01
hai,
i send you some seeds in my garden.
September 2, 2010 at 18:54
Hello Skrubtudsen:
I am in Southern California USA and have been growing artichoke for several years. The same plant sends up new sprouts every year. This year however I have let if completely flower because I want to harvest seeds. After looking at your photos, do I wait until the entire flower dries up and turns brown in order to harvest? Will the purple part turn white like in your photo? How large will the seeds be?
Thank you.
September 2, 2010 at 19:24
Hello Kit.
Let the flowers dry out completely, to be sure the seed are thoroughly ripe. Then split them open and take out the seeds. You’ll probably get more seeds of high quality than I do. For size: the yellow band in the picture is a rubber-band.
The purple part of the flower will turn brown. Beneath you will find the white part on top of the seeds.
Enjoy gardening!
September 10, 2010 at 21:53
Wow, such a quick response! THANK YOU. The flowers are “browning” but not completely brown yet … This week one of them has bowed over like sunflowers do. The stalks are totally brown and hard and new shoots are coming up from the base. I have never had it produce twice in one year before, but the weather has been unusual this year. I will just continue to wait patiently. Thank you again for the information. Your help is very much appreciated.
June 14, 2011 at 13:15
Hi Soren,
1.5 years passed, and the first artichoke flower is coming!
Nice surprise after a cold winter (-18°C).
Thanks for the seeds again.
LG
Leonardo
November 9, 2013 at 18:46
I wish I had your garden. I would love to be able to grow everything that you do.
I live in an apartment, so I don’t get to grow all that awesome stuff (I don’t even have window boxes). I love artichokes, so I’m experimenting with growing them indoors under grow lights. I’m going to try to vernalize them in the cold air from slightly open windows during the Colorado winter. Hopefully it goes well!
November 9, 2013 at 21:12
I wish you luck!