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.

The USDA zone info for Cottonwood can be read to figure out when it's the best time to plant watercress.

Planting Calendar for Watercress

Frost tolerance for watercress:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Watercress are barely cold tolerant which means that you can start planting them slightly earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant watercress in Cottonwood is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant watercress and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your watercress may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your watercress indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Cottonwood. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Cottonwood is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Cottonwood you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your watercress in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Cottonwood

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 Cottonwood

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