One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

The USDA zone info for Lake Forest can be looked at to estimate when it's the best time 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.

You can plant bittercress just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant bittercress in Lake Forest 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 really do well. Starting your bittercress indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Lake Forest. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Lake Forest is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Lake Forest there is a last frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your bittercress in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lake Forest

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 Lake Forest

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Lake Forest.