Crosnes (Chinese artichoke)

Stachys affinis

Tiny spiral tubers, crisp like water chestnut; dig them after frost.

Type: root crop · perennial vegetables, greens and herbs
Hardiness: zones 5 to 9
Light: full sun to part shade
Size: about 1.5 ft tall, 2 ft wide
Harvest: October to November
From: China
Here: Hardy in the Lake Erie shore climate (zone 6b to 7a), so it can live outdoors in the ground.

Good for: food.

Native to: East Asia. Hardy in zones 5 to 9.

The story

Crosnes, Chinese artichokes, were a vegetable of China and Japan for centuries, pickled red for New Year in Japan; a French gardener grew them at Crosnes near Paris in the 1880s and the name stuck. They look like fat white grubs and taste like water chestnut.

Planting

Full sun or part shade, loose rich soil; plant tubers 3 inches deep in spring, a foot apart. A mint relative that spreads.

Growing

Water steadily and keep weeded; mulch. It wilts in heat and needs a long season.

Harvest and use

Dig after frost kills the tops in late autumn; rinse carefully (the spirals hold soil), and eat raw, stir-fried or pickled within days.

What to watch for

Its own spread; leave a few tubers and it is back.

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More perennial vegetables, greens and herbs

General guidance, not professional advice. Conditions vary by yard and year; for local specifics ask your county extension office. Never eat a wild plant you cannot identify with certainty. Traditional uses are shared as history, not medical advice. © 2026 Sean Priest · Irie Orchard. Terms & credits · Privacy · Home