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.

A way of making a decision about when to plant bittercress is to refer to the USDA zone info for Urbana.

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.

Since bittercress are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant bittercress in Urbana 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. Any later than that and your bittercress may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your bittercress indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Urbana is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Urbana there is a last frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your bittercress if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Urbana

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 Urbana

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