When to Plant Artichokes in Wood River, IL

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

You will be able to estimate when to plant artichokes by using the USDA zone info for Wood River.


Planting Calendar for Artichokes

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

Since artichokes do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant artichokes
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant artichokes
Probably not a good time to plant artichokes

The earliest that you can plant artichokes in Wood River 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your artichokes may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your artichokes indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Wood River. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Wood River is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Wood River you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your artichokes in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Wood River

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-5°F
Highest Expected Low0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Wood River

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Wood River.