Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Lafayette should be reffered to in order to estimate 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.

Jerusalem artichokes do ok in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant jerusalem artichokes in Lafayette 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 jerusalem artichokes and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your jerusalem artichokes may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your jerusalem artichokes indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Lafayette the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Lafayette is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Lafayette it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your jerusalem artichokes if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lafayette

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 Lafayette

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