Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Harlan should be read to determine when it's a good idea 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 moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant artichokes in Harlan 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. If you wait any later than that and your artichokes may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your artichokes indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Harlan. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Harlan is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Harlan you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your artichokes if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Harlan

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°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 -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Harlan

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