One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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.

The USDA zone info for Tracy should be reffered to in order to figure out when it's the best time to plant artichokes.

Planting Calendar for Artichokes

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

Since artichokes are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant artichokes in Tracy 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. If you are starting your artichokes indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Tracy. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Tracy and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Tracy you get a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your artichokes if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Tracy

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Tracy

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