One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Tampa you can determine when it's a good idea to plant garden cress by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Garden cress

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

You really shouldn't plant garden cress until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant garden cress in Tampa 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Tampa. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Tampa is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Tampa you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your garden cress in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Tampa

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 Tampa

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