One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of figuring out when it's the best time to plant bittercress is to refer to the USDA zone info for Rupert.

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.

Since bittercress are barely cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant bittercress in Rupert 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 bittercress and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your bittercress may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your bittercress 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 Rupert. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Rupert may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Rupert you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your bittercress in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rupert

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Rupert

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