One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Marion can be reffered to in order to determine when you can plant purple rock cress.

Planting Calendar for Purple Rock Cress

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

Purple Rock Cress can survive in cold weather which tells us that you can plant them earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant purple rock cress in Marion 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 purple rock cress and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your purple rock cress may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your purple rock cress indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Marion the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Marion is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Marion last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your purple rock cress in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Marion

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 Marion

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