One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

A common way of estimating when you can plant indian cress is to use the USDA zone info for Washington.

Planting Calendar for Indian cress

Frost tolerance for indian cress:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

It's probably not a good idea to plant indian cress until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant indian cress in Washington 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 indian cress and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your indian cress may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your indian cress indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Washington the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Washington is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Washington last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your indian cress in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Washington

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 Washington

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