One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Berkeley it's a good idea to figure out when to plant bittercress.

Planting Calendar for Bittercress

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

You can plant bittercress a bit earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant bittercress in Berkeley 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 bittercress and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your bittercress may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your bittercress indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on January 31 in Berkeley. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Berkeley may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Berkeley you get a frost after January 31 be ready to cover your bittercress if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Berkeley

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Berkeley

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