One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of figuring out when it's the best time to plant artichokes is to examine the USDA zone info for Moscow.

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 just a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant artichokes in Moscow 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 little bit earlier by starting your artichokes indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Moscow. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Moscow is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Moscow last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your artichokes in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Moscow

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Moscow

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