When to Plant Rock Cress in Oak Lawn, IL

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.

A way of estimating when it's the best time to plant rock cress is to consult the USDA zone info for Oak Lawn.

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Planting Calendar for Rock Cress

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

Since rock cress are very cold tolerant you can plant them much earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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 Oak Lawn 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else 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 few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Oak Lawn. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Oak Lawn and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Oak Lawn you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your rock cress if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Oak Lawn

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-10°F
Highest Expected Low-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Oak Lawn

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Oak Lawn.