One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Mercer Island should be read to estimate when you can plant artichokes.

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 one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant artichokes in Mercer Island 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 couple of weeks earlier by starting your artichokes indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Mercer Island. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Mercer Island is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Mercer Island you get a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your artichokes in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mercer Island

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Mercer Island

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mercer Island.