Globe Artichoke Bloom
Question from Wu So Fai:
I am very interested in making a time lapse video of the artichoke blooming. I live near Boston. I now have 2 artichokes growing in my garden. I heard the full bloom may take about 2 days. I want to set up a camera to take pictures of the artichoke flower every 4 minutes as it blooms. It will be more convenient if I can photograph the artichoke indoor. So my question is if I cut the artichoke just when I see some purple bloom and put it in water inside my house, will the artichoke continue to bloom and at the same rate as it does in the garden?
Answer from Pat:
In order to take timed photos of artichokes set up the camera outside and leave are artichoke on the plant. Since the process may take several days perhaps you could use lights? Or simply make, sunrise and sunset, darkness and daylight part of the process? Artichokes that are cut before they flower and put in water do not open at the same rate as if left on the plant and may not open at all.
Thank you so much for your speedy reply. Where I live is quite urban and where the artichokes are growing is not very safe for me to leave expensive filming equipment unattended, thus the thought of cutting the artichoke and getting it indoor. And of course I can control the lighting better. Someone suggested that I dig up the whole plant and get the entire thing in a pot to put indoor. If I do this, should I dig before the start of the bloom because the plant will be quite “disturbed” if it is being uprooted and has no time to adjust? Thank you very much for your advice.
You additional explanation helps me understand your problem better. Here is what I recommend: Do not dig up the whole plant. That effort would be doomed to failure since in a frantic effort to save itself the plant would draw all its sap back to its roots, thus causing the upper parts to wilt. Instead, prepare to use a cut flower bud. Your first step should be to purchase a few packets of flower preservative at a flower shop or at Michael’s Arts and Crafts or a flower-shop supply store. Then, according to package directions, mix enough solution to fill your chosen flower vase. It needs to be a heavy one with a narrow top to hold the stem erect. Fill this vase close to the top—not just a little liquid in the bottom—, but remember you will be putting a thick stem in it and so leave room for that. Place the vase in the location where you are going to do the photography. Next, wait until you notice the leaves on the bud have begun to loosen up, showing the flower is fully grown and ready to open. Once you think the bud is ready, fill a bucket or galvanized flower-vendor’s vase with tepid water and carry it to to the plant. Using large pair of sharp pruning shears or a sharp and sturdy knife, cut off the flower with a foot or two of stem attached. Immediately plunge the cut end into the container of water you have brought with you and carry it home in the water. When you get home, re-cut the stem under water with a sharp knife. When cutting the stem this second time, remove at least an inch or two of stem and slice through the stem at an angle under water. (Cutting the stem under water prevents air bubbles from entering the stem. Cutting at an angle allows for a larger area of stem to draw in the liquid.) Clip off any leaves as well. Immediately plunge the newly-cut stem into the prepared vase. This should guarantee the flower will open and if you light it brightly during daylight hours it might open almost as fast as it would in nature—or perhaps just as fast. (This part I can’t guarantee since I have no idea if it has ever been studied.) Keep any remaining solution or mix more as needed, and use it to refill the vase as often as necessary. Properly cut flowers often absorb large quantities of water and this is necessary to open the flower. Do not change the water, just keep it full to the brim. When you are through taking the photos, you can if you wish remove the flower from the water and then hang it upside-down in a cool, dry, shady place to dry. Dry artichoke flowers can be kept for a year or two.
Wow! I love how clear your instruction and explanation are. Thank you so much. You are really wonderful and generous. I am partly inspired to make a time lapse of the artichoke bloom after I saw Neil Bromhall’s great footage of his artichoke bloom. You can see his video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA96yDuRZ-4 I have emailed Neil Bromhall to ask how he set up his artichoke, but sadly he never responded. I was looking around to see what videos will talk about artichoke and came upon your video. I was impressed with your video. It showed clearly you know what you are talking about. I am so glad you welcome others to ask you questions.
My turn to say wow! It’s like a dance. I watched it several times. Note that this sequence begins when the flower is already open, just not fully open. Also the scales on the plant are no longer green but already going brown and dried up. It looks to me as if it was taken outdoors since there appears to be a hill in the left lower frame and the background looks like clear sky, but how could one be sure to have two days of clear skies in Britain? Neil Bromhall says in the comments beneath the video that he filmed it over two days and his address is in the UK. Perhaps he took this particular series of time-lapse photos in the south of France? Neil also gives a link to his “free interactive plant finder and pruning guide” where he has many time lapses plus thousands of still photos of garden plants that grow in England. I wonder how one could get that much sky in the background while looking down on a flower? In the South of France it would not be so difficult since there are wide skies, many hills and more open countryside. Here in our backcountry I have gotten down on the ground to photograph a flower against sky, but couldn’t do that with an artichoke. I’m glad you liked my artichoke video. (Thank you.) There are many other videos on my blog, but mostly it’s question and answer.
Like you, I also did a bit of detective work to try to figure out Neil’s set up and Google said: http://digitalcontentproducer.com/cameras/revfeat/macro_photographer_neil_bromhall/
I am back needing advice again because one of my artichokes is finally starting to bloom. This morning I saw 1/3 inch of purple stuff poking through the top. I was very excited about this. I set up a camera, a Sony Alpha 100 DSLR, on loan from a friend. I tried to following your direction the best I can in getting the artichoke into a vase. Now I started the shooting in a spare bedroom. The camera is triggered by a remote. At first the camera was taking a picture very 4 minutes. But I really didn’t see much more blooming since this morning, so I changed the interval to be 6 minutes. I’ll keep an eye on the bloom until bedtime and change the filming interval if necessary. I wonder if you can tell me how long the full bloom will take from your experience. ( I think I have enough memory in the camera to take pictures continuously for about 72 hours, i.e. 3 days.)
I don’t have any recollection of how long it takes an artichoke to bloom, but remember the U-Tube video you sent me? Don’t I recall that the photographer said in his notes under “comments” below how long it took to open. I think I recall it was 2 or 3 days. Also if the cut stalk is in water, be sure to keep the light bright and check the water level making sure there is still plenty of water for the artichoke to drink. The treated water should help it open better. Rose buds sometimes take two or three days to open fully indoors. The warmer the room, the quicker the flower opens, but if the room is too hot a cut rose will wilt. The fact that you are dealing with a cut artichoke flower might make a difference on timing also. I think you were correct to lengthen the time between shots. Four minute intervals sound too close together, but check again in the morning to see how it’s going. I have noticed that the opening of flowers often speeds up at a later stage, it’s not always even.
Sadly the artichoke bud I tried to time lapse died perhaps during the second day of filming. I didn’t know until I kept watching it under the camera for a whole week and noticed that the purple flower started to shrink and slowly dry up. When I took it out of the clear plastic jar with a narrow neck I noticed the joint from the stem to the choke had rotted out. That was very sad for me to see. I have other glass vases, but they have wider opening and bodies that I thought will not hold enough water for the duration of filming, so I chose the clean plastic juice bottle that had a narrow opening so I have more control where the bud would be pointing.
Now my second bud just started to bloom. I am thinking I’ll let it stay longer in the ground before I cut it to film. Wish me luck and any suggestion will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for continuing to talk to me about this project.
My suggestion is to make sure the container is very clean. Glass is better than plastic. Also add a little Chlorox to the water. One teaspoon per quart. This will prevent rot.
Put in also a teaspoon full of sugar to feed the plant and stir the water well. If you had gone to the florist and gotten flower preservative this would have done the same thing. I wish I could help you more.
Thanks again for all the suggestions.
I have much better luck with my second artichoke flower. It is a globe artichoke flower. I have been filming the blooming for the past 2 weeks. Now it is slowly drying up and some of the purple blue bloom have turned dark. There is no rot between the stem and the bud. I’ll stop filming sometime this week, then I’ll process the pictures to make a movie using Final Cut Studio, an Apple application for making movies on the computer. I’ll definitely let you know how the short movie turns out.
Great news! Sorry I couldn’t answer your last question sooner. I was away for two weeks on vacation. Your query must have arrived just after I left. Please always write directly to my blog since then, if I am out of town, you will get a notification saying I am on vacation. This time I drove to the Southwest, taking a cousin with me—to Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Taos, and environs (on a “Road Scholar” trip called “On the Road: the best of Norther New Mexico”, including the pueblo people and their homes and ancient adobe churches. We saw the beauties of nature and learned about the geology, art, architecture, history, cuisine and culture of those places. On the way home I stopped at Sedona for 4 nights where we painted watercolors for three days.