When to Plant Rock Cress in Geneva, IL

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

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


Planting Calendar for Rock Cress

Frost tolerance for rock cress: Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant: Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

You can plant rock cress quite a bit earlier in the year because they do well in cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant rock cress
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant rock cress
Probably not a good time to plant rock cress

The earliest that you can plant rock cress in Geneva is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant rock cress and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your rock cress may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your rock cress indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Geneva. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Geneva and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Geneva it frosts late in the year after April 15 so always be ready to cover your rock cress if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Geneva

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 Geneva

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