One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of determining when you can plant artichokes is to check out the USDA zone info for Bozeman.

Planting Calendar for Artichokes

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

Since artichokes are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant artichokes in Bozeman 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. If you are starting your artichokes indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Bozeman the average date of last frost happens on May 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Bozeman and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Bozeman you get surprised by a frost after May 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your artichokes if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bozeman

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 Bozeman

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