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.

You will be able to estimate when it's a good idea to plant artichokes by checking out the USDA zone info for Laurel.

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 a little bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant artichokes in Laurel 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. If you wait any later than that and your artichokes may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your artichokes indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on May 15 in Laurel. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Laurel and it is different every year. Half of the time in Laurel it frosts late in the year after May 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your artichokes if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Laurel

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 Laurel

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