One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

A common way of making a decision about when it's the best time to plant artichokes is to look at the USDA zone info for New Castle.

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 little earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant artichokes in New Castle is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant artichokes and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your artichokes may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your artichokes indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in New Castle. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for New Castle and it is different every year. Since half of the time in New Castle last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your artichokes in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for New Castle

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in New Castle

You may be interested in your other planting guides for New Castle.