Have you ever seen artichokes growing?

I lived in California, years ago and loved that I could buy artichokes at such a reasonable price.  Now they are very expensive, especially here in the Midwest.  I know why though,  they take a lot of space in the garden and are small in comparison to the bush they grow on.  The bushes are over 4 feet across and the artichokes sprout out of the top of the plant.  It is beautiful and a rare treat.  So out of the 5 bushes I have I'll harvest about 10 artichokes.  The plants won't die in the winter.  These are from last year and I just covered them with plastic over the winter months.