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

By looking at the USDA zone info for Madison it's a good idea to estimate when it's possible to plant rock cress.

Planting Calendar for Rock Cress

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

Rock Cress do well in cold which means that you can start planting them much earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant rock cress in Madison 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. Starting your rock cress indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Madison the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Madison is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Madison there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your rock cress if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Madison

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Madison

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