2 MILLION BLOSSOMS


Above: Artichokes are typically sold in the vegetable section and so pollinator fans miss out as they are not on the flower rack. © Sarah Rautio Above, center: Plant enough artichokes, so you have some to harvest prior to blooming for food. Below: Close up of an artichoke bloom- purple landing pad for pollinators. © Sarah Rautio Opposite page, right: Artichokes mixed in with flowering herbs and plants creates pollinator diversitiy at Olbrich Botanical Garden in Madison. © Sarah Rautio


Deliciously Ornamental If ornamental artichokes were trendy in the 16th century, the fad is back in modern times. Just check the breathless catalog copy this year from Breck’s: “The Globe Artichoke is now prized for its wonderful thistlelike blooms and silvery foliage . . . a fantastic anchor plant for mixed beds, cutting gardens or back borders.” And from Burpee: “The unused  Eden Brothers similarly note that artichoke “ . . . provides a welcomed esthetic addition to the garden even after harvest.” “What is great about artichokes,” said Sarah Rautio, who heads up Michigan State University Extension’s statewide master gardener program, “is that they are really large, they make quite a statement, and in the right conditions they can  and they’re built in a way that pollinators like!” Bees especially are strongly attracted to the color purple,


  perfect landing platform for bees. “Just by nature of their  variety of bumble bees and solitary bees along with honey           shun the spiky, bitter leaves.


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