Tk I'm very curious about your burpee experience. I also bought artichokes from them that didn't last the winter (or at least I don't think they did). I just attributed it to my winter, but they did tell me that they are hardy to my zone especially if you cover them. Which I did.

I enriched the soil with compost, covered with wire cage, covered the ground with frost cloth, had a soaker hose for them. They really never grew even in the summer. I've been watching to see if they resprout this spring. I cant think of anything else i could have done for them. What really irritated me was burpees story kept changing, and they would offer something, and then refuse to do it.
But, i will not be defeated, as i went to a local nursery and bought the last 3, 3 yo green globe artichokes. They may produce this year. They are now 1' tall.

Mine didn't grow at all one got 2 feet tall the other didn't even get that tall. I gave them compost and green manure and covered them with frost cloth over the winter. I think I'll call burpee as well.

SCButtercup said:I knwvm jumping into this discussion late but when I saw the basil comments I had to share. I'm a basil nut --- grow four - five different kinds each year from seed right along with tomatoes. Still have pesto in the freezer.
Basil seeds that are 1 to 3 years old will sprout in about 5 days indoors . It's the first plant that comes up when I grow seeds indoors. However, since basil seeds need a lot of moisture I never ever direct seed outdoors. It would mean watering two or three times a day. I have had a few volunteers self seed in pots occasionally so cold doesn't kill the seeds and I could see the potential of wintersow ing because that would keep the seeds moist. Anyways basil is incredibly easy to grow from seed if started indoors. So save your money and do a packet of seeds. Also the lettuce leaf basil, lime basil, cinnamon basil etc are hard to find in garden centers but easy to find seeds mail order or in seed swap. Just call me basil aficionado. Or basil freak.

I would have to start it indoors late enough that I could put the seedling out right away. I do start stuff myself from seed but not stuff that needs to be started indoors weeks ahead as I don't really have the set up for it.

I'm hoping I'm just being impatient but nothing is sprouting yet . It's been about 2 weeks. My spinach seeds were old so I wasn't expecting too much from them but the lettuce, kohlrabi, beets, and Swiss chard were brand new seeds. Maybe if I stare at the dirt where I planted them they will magically come up.

SCurtis said: Maybe if I stare at the dirt where I planted them they will magically come up.

It might work if you give them a cold stare, being that most of those are cool weather crops.

Hahaha tk

You know what they say about a watched kettle never boiling.

My brocs and bak choy germinated already. Wow. That was only four days. I think the fact that the grow lights on the racks are up against the bottom of the flats provide some warming that speeds up germination. Will watch the spinach and lettuce closely to see if they pop quickly also. Getting close to moving the car out and rearranging the garage for the major planting push including bringing the dahlia tubers out of the basement. Takes a lot of room.

Only 40's outside and still a fair amount of water and ice remaining.

Im jealous Mary! Can you give me some of your luck?

Did you get a response from burpee @SCurtis?

So far their response was that I'm in a growing zone they don't guarantee will overwinter. I looked at their website and no where does it say on the Lulus what growing zone they are appropriate for. I sent them an email saying that and what I did to make them overwinter and how badly they did all summer anyway. No response back yet.

I put in your zip code, and it brought up lulu artichokes as appropriate for that zone. And, notice the guarantee here:

I see that, maybe my next email will be a little bit more armored I'm reading their return policy now seems like they have a 1 yr guarantee on perennials but the artichoke isn't in the perennials section. They only give a 90 day return policy on vegetables, maybe that's the problem. I'd just be satisfied with new plants this year (as long as they're not really sad ones like last year).

In their response to me, he said they guaranteed ALL their products for one year. Said a lot of other things that were untrue, too.

Because the squirrels keep digging up my peas--since I haven't put any kind of cover over them--so that I have to go out and poke them back in every day or two, I know that they've germinated. Just waiting to see their leaves come up--if the squirrels will let them stay under ground long enough.

Finally seeing a couple of tomatoes set on ... Moreton and JD's Special C-Tex



YEAH!!

Hurray for green tomatoes! Now to watch them and wait and wait till they get ripe.

Newyorkrita said:Hurray for green tomatoes! Now to watch them and wait and wait till they get ripe.

Or wait for them to get big for fried green tomatoes