• Home
  • General Gardening
    • Flowers
    • Fruits & Vegetables
    • Garden Diseases
    • Garden Pests
    • Gardening 101
    • Specialty Gardening
    • Soil & Composting
    • Product Reviews
    • Landscaping
    • Trees & Shrubs
  • Growing Vegetables
    • Tomatoes
    • Fruits By Name
    • Vegetables By Name A-M
    • Vegetables by Name N-Z
  • Nutrition

Gardening Channel

Advice and Tips on How to Garden

You are here: Home / Fruits & Vegetables / Vegetables By Name A-M / Artichokes / Do artichokes die back in winter?

Do artichokes die back in winter?

4 Comments

growing artichokes

Question: Do artichokes die back in winter? Should I cut the plants down or leave them? -Jenn D.

Answer: Yes. Artichokes go dormant in hot weather, but their main dormancy period is in the winter when they die back to the ground. Considering that artichokes are grown as perennials in many climates, and produce for five to six years, providing protection during the winter is crucial. Cut your artichoke stalks down to about six inches and gather the stalks together, tying them in place to hold them upright to protect the crown. Add four to six inches of compost around the base of each plant and an additional eight inches of straw or leaves on top of the compost to cover and insulate the pruned down artichoke plant.

If you are expecting an extremely cold winter, cover each of your artichoke plants with a cardboard box or a styrofoam cooler for additional protection. Fill the protective casing with straw or leaves for additional insulation. Remove the box when the temperature returns to normal in your area. In zone six, you can keep the box in place for the majority of the season. In April, remove the mulch and feed your plants with a balanced fertilizer. Keep an eye on the weather just in case a cold snap comes in during early spring. Another method of overwintering your artichoke plants is to dig up the root crowns before freezing temperatures arrive and store them in a cool basement or garage. The storage location still needs to be relatively cold but not freezing, as artichoke plants go into dormancy during the winter.

artichokes in garden with text overlay Do artichokes die back in winter?

Related

Filed Under: Artichokes Tagged With: artichokes perennial, growing artichokes, overwinter artichokes, planting artichokes

Comments

  1. Richard Purchon says

    March 8, 2022 at 3:21 am

    I planted 6 artichokes last year.
    Following this winter the area where they were planted is just earth, there is no evidence that they are there. Does this mean they didn’t survive the winter and have died. Or are they dormant under the ground?

    Reply
    • Tad says

      July 24, 2022 at 2:53 pm

      I have had similar disappearances for my beloved artichokes.
      My culprit was gophers. It is possible over watering can lead to an agressive form of root rot as well.
      I am fairly certain your plants are gone. There should be a substantial center stalk and a root structure if the plant is still viable…
      So sorry for your loss.

      Reply
  2. patty says

    April 28, 2022 at 11:15 am

    Same here Richard. We are waiting for them to emerge. I am wondering if they survived as well.

    Reply
  3. Tony Zarzecki says

    June 4, 2023 at 9:55 pm

    I covered my plants with wood and plastic pallets for winter , no growth,
    Looks like they rotted away.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Join 1.5 million Facebook Followers!

Join 1.5 million Facebook Followers!
Privacy Policy

Affiliate Disclosure

Our gardening obsessed editors and writers choose every product we review. We may earn an affiliate commission if you buy from one of our product links, at no extra cost to you.

Gardening Channel. Copyright © 2025. All Rights Reserved.

 

Loading Comments...