One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of estimating when it's the best time to plant jerusalem artichokes is to use the USDA zone info for Rancho Mirage.

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 are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant jerusalem artichokes in Rancho Mirage 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your jerusalem artichokes indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in Rancho Mirage. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Rancho Mirage is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Rancho Mirage there is a last frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your jerusalem artichokes in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Rancho Mirage

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 Rancho Mirage

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Rancho Mirage.