Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Waterloo it's a good idea to determine when to plant bittercress.

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 a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant bittercress in Waterloo 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your bittercress may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your bittercress indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Waterloo. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Waterloo and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Waterloo it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your bittercress in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Waterloo

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Waterloo

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