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 figure out when it's a good idea to plant artichokes by using the USDA zone info for Columbia.

Planting Calendar for Artichokes

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

Artichokes do ok in a little bit of cold which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant artichokes in Columbia 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your artichokes may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your artichokes indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Columbia. You should expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Columbia and it is different every year. Half of the time in Columbia it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your artichokes in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Columbia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Columbia

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