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.

By using the USDA zone info for Dekalb you should be able to determine when it's possible to plant bittercress.

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.

Bittercress do ok in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant bittercress in Dekalb 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your bittercress may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your bittercress indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Dekalb. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Dekalb is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Dekalb you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your bittercress if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Dekalb

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Dekalb

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