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.

You will be able to determine when it's a good idea to plant artichokes by referring to the USDA zone info for Ishpeming.

Planting Calendar for Artichokes

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

You can plant artichokes just a bit earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant artichokes in Ishpeming is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant artichokes and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your artichokes may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your artichokes indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on May 15 in Ishpeming. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Ishpeming is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Ishpeming you get surprised by a frost after May 15 be ready to cover your artichokes in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ishpeming

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Ishpeming

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