"Globe Artichoke"

Click on image for larger view

Looks a bit like a thistle doesn't it; well it is a relative. This herb is a type of vegetable you can eat at home, the good old artichoke. Located in the Herb Garden up the steps opposite the Visitors Centre main entrance.  

Known only in cultivation the Globe Artichoke, Cynara scolymus, may have been developed as a vegetable from Cynara cardunculus, known as the Cardoon. Cynara cardunculus can be seen in the opposite Herb Garden bed to the Globe Artichoke. The Cardoon has been known since the ancient times of Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. The Globe Artichoke is used in cooking when the flowers are at bud stage. Both species have excellent ornamental effects and are also useful as cut flowers. 

The Globe Artichoke is a perennial herb that prefers deep rich fertile soil, in full sun but requires a sheltered position from the wind. Fertilise in spring and summer to encourage healthy foliage and flowers.

Continue your stroll from the Herb Garden up the steps to the Formal Garden. The perennial beds here in the formal garden have been redeveloped into various colour schemes. Currently the purple themed garden bed is providing a very colourful and inspirational display.  

                Scott Robinson     and      Keith Naylor

Apprentice Horticulturist             Records officer