Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Los Gatos you can estimate when it's a good idea to plant artichokes by looking at the USDA zone info.

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 a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant artichokes in Los Gatos 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 fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your artichokes indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Los Gatos. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Los Gatos is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Los Gatos you get a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your artichokes if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Los Gatos

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 Los Gatos

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Los Gatos.