When to Plant Purple Rock Cress in Algona, IA

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 first opportunity to plant purple rock cress in Algona should be determined by using the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Purple Rock Cress

Frost tolerance for purple rock cress: Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant: Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Purple Rock Cress are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which tells us that you can get them planted much earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant purple rock cress
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant purple rock cress
Probably not a good time to plant purple rock cress

The earliest that you can plant purple rock cress in Algona 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 purple rock cress and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your purple rock cress may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your purple rock cress indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Algona. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Algona may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Algona it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your purple rock cress in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Algona

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-20°F
Highest Expected Low-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Algona

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