One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 referring to the USDA zone info for West Monroe it's a good idea to determine when it's the best time 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 means that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant jerusalem artichokes in West Monroe 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 fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your jerusalem artichokes indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in West Monroe. You should expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for West Monroe may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in West Monroe it frosts late in the year after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your jerusalem artichokes in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for West Monroe

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in West Monroe

You may be interested in your other planting guides for West Monroe.