One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant artichokes is to examine the USDA zone info for Prairie Du Chien.

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 earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant artichokes in Prairie Du Chien 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 little bit earlier by starting your artichokes indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Prairie Du Chien. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Prairie Du Chien may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Prairie Du Chien you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your artichokes if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Prairie Du Chien

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

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

Plants to Grow in Prairie Du Chien

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Prairie Du Chien.