One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. 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 getting a good idea when to plant garden cress is to consult the USDA zone info for South Portland.

Planting Calendar for Garden cress

Frost tolerance for garden cress:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

It's not a good idea to plant garden cress until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant garden cress in South Portland is April. However, you really should wait until May 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 August. Any later than that and your garden cress may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your garden cress indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in South Portland. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for South Portland is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in South Portland it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your garden cress if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for South Portland

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 South Portland

You may be interested in your other planting guides for South Portland.