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 determining when it's a good idea to plant artichokes is to look at the USDA zone info for Fontana.

Planting Calendar for Artichokes

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

Since artichokes do well in moderate cold you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant artichokes in Fontana 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your artichokes may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your artichokes indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on January 31 in Fontana. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Fontana is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Fontana last frost occurs after January 31 so always be ready to cover your artichokes in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Fontana

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Fontana

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