One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

By using the USDA zone info for Shelbyville you should be able to determine when it's a good idea to plant jerusalem artichokes.

Planting Calendar for Jerusalem artichokes

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

Jerusalem artichokes do well in a little bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant jerusalem artichokes in Shelbyville 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 grow to maturity. Starting your jerusalem 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 Shelbyville. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Shelbyville is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Shelbyville you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your jerusalem artichokes if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Shelbyville

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 Shelbyville

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