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.

It's a good idea to figure out when it's the best time to plant artichokes by looking at the USDA zone info for Petaluma.

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 a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant artichokes in Petaluma 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 grow to maturity. Starting your artichokes indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in Petaluma. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Petaluma is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Petaluma last frost occurs after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your artichokes in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Petaluma

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 Petaluma

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