One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

You should be able to determine when you can plant garden cress by reviewing the USDA zone info for Alexandria.

Planting Calendar for Garden cress

Frost tolerance for garden cress:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since garden cress require warm weather it's important to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant garden cress in Alexandria is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant garden cress and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your garden cress may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your garden cress indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Alexandria may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Alexandria it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your garden cress in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Alexandria

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°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 -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Alexandria

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