One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Mount Prospect can be reffered to in order to determine when it's a good idea 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 can survive in a tiny bit of cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant bittercress in Mount Prospect 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 grow to maturity. Starting your bittercress indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Mount Prospect. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Mount Prospect is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Mount Prospect last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your bittercress in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mount Prospect

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 Mount Prospect

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mount Prospect.