One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to estimate when to plant rock cress by using the USDA zone info for North Manchester.

Planting Calendar for Rock Cress

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

Since rock cress are very cold tolerant you can plant them earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in North Manchester. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for North Manchester may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in North Manchester there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your rock cress if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for North Manchester

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 North Manchester

You may be interested in your other planting guides for North Manchester.