One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 looking at the USDA zone info for Owatonna it's possible to figure out 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.

You can plant jerusalem artichokes a little earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant jerusalem artichokes in Owatonna 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 jerusalem artichokes and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else 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 all chance of frost has passed is on May 15 in Owatonna. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Owatonna may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Owatonna there is a last frost after May 15 be ready to cover your jerusalem artichokes in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Owatonna

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 Owatonna

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