One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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 earliest that you can plant purple rock cress in Normal can be estimated by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Purple Rock Cress

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

Since purple rock cress are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant purple rock cress in Normal 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 purple rock cress and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your purple rock cress may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your purple rock cress indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Normal. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Normal may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Normal last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your purple rock cress in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Normal

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 Normal

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