#sunchoke

Helianthus tuberosus

Sunchoke

Cut the sunchoke stems near their base and relocated them to the garden to stand and weather.

They're pithy and good sizes for pollinators to burrow and have laid their eggs in, so I dont want to compost or move them far - but they also make it difficult to harvest the tubers underneath, and some first year plantings had tipped over anyways and exposed the bulbs.

Covered the rows up with nearby maple leaves and straw to protect them from freezes and the dogs, who like to switch to these after their early winter walnut eating.

These were planted in native clay soil with no amendments that was previously full of bindweed/morning glory. They've done amazing in it in full sun, act as a shield against direct sun in summer but let it through in winter, as well as break up the soil and make deeper nutrients more available. They've outcompeted a good percentage of the bindweed too, even as they provide a shaded area of life for weeds on either side of them.

They're native flowers and the tubers are very easy to dig up, the only real downside is that they do grow and spread within their immediate area quickly so they're set away from the actual garden.

The flower has faded as of posting this but hey! One of the sunchokes bloomed after dad's funeral weekend. Admittedly bittersweet, since I would talk to dad about these and he'd keep forgetting what they were called, and I was looking forward to showing him their sunny but modest blooms, and have him and the rest of the house try the tubers for the first time.