Cardoons or Artichokes?

For years I've been growing, eating, and enjoying cardoons. Gradually they have been shaded out by my citrus trees. Recently I decided to try artichoke leaves instead, as I have access to plenty of them. I harvested the outer leaves so as not to diminish the crop of flowers. They are excellent, much less bitter than cardoons, tender when cooked a while, really tasty. Why do we bother with cardoons as a separate crop? It can't be for the bitterness, all the recipes call for parboiling them to diminish it (though I skip that step). Are they more hardy or something?

Do cardoons make a fruit similar to artichokes?

Well, of course the artichoke is not a fruit, it's a flower bud.
The cardoon flower is similar to the artichoke flower, and equally beautiful and attractive to bees when in bloom.
Unfortunately, the flesh of the cardoon flower is a lot thinner than the artichoke, so it's not much use for human food.
(BTW, if you let them bloom, don't let them go to seed. At least around here they are a noxious invasive weed.)

Some people have told me cardoon is a mulchmaker for them.

Well, yes, it would be. But better than artichoke?