VERY attractive back yard.

How cold does it get in your zone?

Do you need to do all those steps if it doesn't get too cold?

This post was edited by uscjusto on Thu, Oct 31, 13 at 14:24

My chokes will easily take temps down to 20F for a few days. Colder than that will knock them back to the ground but they re-grew just fine a few years ago when we had 15F for a week straight.

I'd be concerned that covering them like you suggest without cold enough weather to keep them dormant will cause more harm then it's worth.
-Mark

My chokes have never made it overwinter yet, but we've had some funny springs and I have never really mulched them. Voles really seem to enjoy their roots, which is a problem in my light soil here, and the ones that have survived winter predation usually snuff it in the freak late frosts we've had. Oddly, my cardoons always make it fine with absolutley no fussing from me. Have you tried contacting Monticello? The folks who run these historical places seem to enjoy talking to interested folks about how they replicate what was done all those many years ago. I haven't tried the folks at Monticello on artichokes but I did recently spend a day talking to curators at many historical parks about Dorking chickens.

I'm in zone 7, and people here don't cut them or cover them. I have seen them survive as low as 8 degrees F.