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.

The earliest that you can plant garden cress in New Orleans should be estimated by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Garden cress

Frost tolerance for garden cress:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Garden cress are not cold tolerant which means that you need to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant garden cress in New Orleans 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 garden cress and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your garden cress may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your garden cress indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in New Orleans. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for New Orleans and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in New Orleans you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your garden cress in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for New Orleans

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in New Orleans

You may be interested in your other planting guides for New Orleans.