The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. 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 making a decision about when you can plant rock cress is to use the USDA zone info for North Adams.

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 one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather you can plant them earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant rock cress in North Adams 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 really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your rock cress indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for North Adams and it is different every year. Half of the time in North Adams it frosts late in the year after April 15 so always be ready to protect your rock cress if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for North Adams

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 Adams

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