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

The earliest that you can plant jerusalem artichokes in Des Moines should be estimated by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Jerusalem artichokes

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

You can plant jerusalem artichokes just a bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant jerusalem artichokes in Des Moines 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. If you wait any later than that and your jerusalem artichokes may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your jerusalem artichokes indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Des Moines. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Des Moines is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Des Moines it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your jerusalem artichokes in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Des Moines

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°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 -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Des Moines

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Des Moines.