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.

You can determine when it's a good idea to plant artichokes in San Luis Obispo by referring to 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.

Artichokes can survive in a little bit of cold which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant artichokes in San Luis Obispo 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. Any later than that and your artichokes may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your artichokes indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in San Luis Obispo. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for San Luis Obispo is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in San Luis Obispo there is a last frost after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your artichokes if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for San Luis Obispo

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 San Luis Obispo

You may be interested in your other planting guides for San Luis Obispo.