One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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 can estimate when to plant artichokes in Charles Town by reviewing 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.

Since artichokes are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant artichokes in Charles Town 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 Charles Town. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Charles Town may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Charles Town there is a last frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your artichokes in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Charles Town

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Charles Town

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Charles Town.