One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant jerusalem artichokes is to check out the USDA zone info for Cupertino.

Planting Calendar for Jerusalem artichokes

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

Since jerusalem artichokes do well in moderate cold you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant jerusalem artichokes in Cupertino 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 jerusalem artichokes and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your jerusalem artichokes may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your jerusalem artichokes indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Cupertino the average date of last frost happens on February 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Cupertino is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Cupertino you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your jerusalem artichokes if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Cupertino

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 Cupertino

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