What is this please?

Thank you.

Could it be a Cardoon (Cynara cardunculus)?

Edited: Nope, I just looked at a photo of the Cardoon I grew a few years ago, and the bud had spiky tips to the scale-leaves.

Now I think it looks more like an artichoke.

I wondered about cardoon too, or some kind of artichoke or relative anyway. Here is some info from the database on various Cynara.

http://garden.org/plants/searc...