All choked up

I still haven't cut down the dead artichoke stalks in the back yard. Now the leaves have begun to peel back and fall off to reveal the fluffy choke inside each flower head. Meanwhile, at ground level, new leaves are sprouting.

One of last year's artichokes. They'll get cut back when we have some dry weather.

I also noticed that the rhubarb plants are breaking through the soil. I think they're about a month early. In 2012, I took pictures of them pushing up in the middle of March, which feels normal to me. Last night was quite warm for mid-February and our low this morning is above 9ºC which is close to 50ºF.