Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of getting a good idea when it's possible to plant garden cress is to look at the USDA zone info for East Alton.

Planting Calendar for Garden cress

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

You should not plant garden cress until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant garden cress in East Alton 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. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your garden cress indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in East Alton. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for East Alton may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in East Alton last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your garden cress if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for East Alton

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 East Alton

You may be interested in your other planting guides for East Alton.