The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of determining when it's a good idea to plant jerusalem artichokes is to consult the USDA zone info for Marathon.

Planting Calendar for Jerusalem artichokes

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

Jerusalem artichokes can survive in some cold which tells us that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant jerusalem artichokes in Marathon 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 November. Any later than that and your jerusalem artichokes may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your jerusalem artichokes indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Marathon it never frosts. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 45°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Marathon is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since it never frosts in Marathon you do not have to be ready to protect your jerusalem artichokes if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Marathon

Here is the info for USDA Zone 11b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	Never
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	Never
Lowest Expected Low	45°F
Highest Expected Low	50°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 45°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 50°F.

Plants to Grow in Marathon

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