Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant artichokes in Aiken should be determined by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Artichokes

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

Artichokes tend to make it in a little bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant artichokes in Aiken 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 artichokes and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your artichokes may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your artichokes indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Aiken the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Aiken 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 Aiken it frosts late in the year after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your artichokes if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Aiken

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Aiken

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