Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when it's the best time to plant garden cress is to use the USDA zone info for Benson.

Planting Calendar for Garden cress

Frost tolerance for garden cress:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Garden cress do not do well in cold weather which tells us that you must wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant garden cress in Benson 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 fully mature. Starting your garden cress indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Benson the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Benson is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Benson you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your garden cress in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Benson

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 Benson

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