05/27/2026
I let our artichoke plant go to bloom this year, and look what it became.
Most of us know artichokes from the dinner table, but they are actually unopened flower buds from a thistle. If you leave them alone instead of harvesting them, they open into these striking purple blooms — wild, architectural, and almost prehistoric-looking.
Artichokes have been loved for centuries, with roots in the Mediterranean and a history that reaches back to Roman times. There is something beautiful about seeing a plant move from food, to flower, to history, all in one season.
A little reminder from the garden: sometimes what we don’t pick becomes something even more beautiful.