One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to figure out when to plant artichokes by using the USDA zone info for Benicia.

Planting Calendar for Artichokes

Frost tolerance for artichokes:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant artichokes just a bit earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant artichokes in Benicia is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant artichokes and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your artichokes may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your artichokes indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Benicia. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Benicia and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Benicia you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your artichokes if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Benicia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Benicia

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Benicia.