One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

It's possible to determine when it's a good idea to plant garden cress by looking at the USDA zone info for West Des Moines.

Planting Calendar for Garden cress

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

It's not a good idea to plant garden cress until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant garden cress in West Des Moines 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 garden cress and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your garden cress may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your garden cress indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for West Des Moines is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in West Des Moines it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your garden cress if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for West Des Moines

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 West Des Moines

You may be interested in your other planting guides for West Des Moines.