One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of estimating when it's possible to plant jerusalem artichokes is to use the USDA zone info for Albany.

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 do well in moderate cold 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 Albany 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 jerusalem artichokes and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your jerusalem artichokes may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your jerusalem artichokes indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Albany. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Albany may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Albany you get a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your jerusalem artichokes in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Albany

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Albany

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