Typically grown for its toughness and brilliantly showy, late blooming flowers, Sunchoke can also be grown for its edible tubers, which are often prepared like potatoes. Sunchoke is enthusiastic in all of its endeavors - it is so tall that it may require staking, it forms large colonies through rhizomes and self-seeding, and it likes to duke it out with other robust natives (or even certain invasives)! Give this plant plenty of room to grow and watch pollinators and birds alike flock from all over to come feast on their skyscraper tall flowers and seed heads - and maybe even take part in the feast yourself!
Conditions: Full sun to part sun; medium to dry soil moistureSize: 10’ tall, 5’ wide
Zone: 5-9
Wildlife Value: Flowers attract butterflies, skippers, hover flies, and bees; seeds are eaten by birds; larval host for several butterfly and moth species
Photos: Dave Korbonits