artichoke maintenance

i was out working on controlling the jerusalem artichokes in the south bed to keep them from completely shading out the berries and the onions...actually all three are perennials, and so, invasive...the berries and onions don't need that much help...just some asurance of some sunlight...control is fairly simple, just snap off the stems near the ground taking all the leaves and continue to do so as the stem produces new leaves until the tuber runs out of stored energy and the plant vanishes...as i was culling the the sunchokes back this one...

popped up leaves, stem, roots, and tuber...the face of relentlessness in a leaf cluster and stem about three inches tall...reluctant to trust it not to grow a new colony in the compost bin...

i planted it in its own container...i found one of these growing in a cardboard box that had some compost spilled in it a few years ago...

i believe that was the same year this one took root in my truck...so don't worry...it will evince robust growth all summer...come august it will bloom and in september we'll see how many tubers it sets.