One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

One way of figuring out when it's possible to plant garden cress is to consult the USDA zone info for Tucson.

Planting Calendar for Garden cress

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

You really shouldn't plant garden cress until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant garden cress in Tucson 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 garden cress and expect a good harvest is probably September. 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Tucson the average date of last frost happens on February 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Tucson 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 Tucson it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to protect your garden cress in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Tucson

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Tucson

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