The Cardoon is a large, spectacular ornamental plant and quite a talking point when established.

An architectural plant, with large, spiky, deeply cut, silver leaves with stout stems bearing 4" thistle-like purple flowers in summer, it does need some space as it reaches 8-9' tall and, after a couple of years, 4-5' wide.

It's both a handsome border plant and a tasty vegetable (the stems being blanched in late summer) and the the seed heads can be dried and used in displays.

Introduced in 1658, it has been popular ever since and the RHS have given it the Award of Garden Merit.

You can view the plant in the shop, here.