The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Ames it's a good idea to estimate when you can plant indian cress.

Planting Calendar for Indian cress

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

Indian cress are not cold tolerant which means that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant indian cress in Ames is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant indian cress and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your indian cress may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your indian cress indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Ames. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Ames and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Ames you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your indian cress in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ames

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 Ames

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