Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. 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 Rantoul can be looked at to determine when you can plant garden cress.

Planting Calendar for Garden cress

Frost tolerance for garden cress:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

It's a bad idea to plant garden cress until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant garden cress in Rantoul is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant garden cress and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your garden cress may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your garden cress indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Rantoul the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Rantoul is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Rantoul you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your garden cress if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Rantoul

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 Rantoul

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