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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Birmingham you will be able to figure out when you can plant rock cress.

Planting Calendar for Rock Cress

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

Rock Cress do well in pretty solid cold which means that you can plant them earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant rock cress in Birmingham 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. Any later than that and 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

In Birmingham the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Birmingham may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Birmingham you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your rock cress in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Birmingham

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 Birmingham

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