One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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 should be able to figure out when it's the best time to plant watercress by reviewing the USDA zone info for Victoria.

Planting Calendar for Watercress

Frost tolerance for watercress:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant watercress slightly earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant watercress in Victoria 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 watercress and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your watercress may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your watercress indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on May 15 in Victoria. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Victoria and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Victoria there is a last frost after May 15 be ready to protect your watercress in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Victoria

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°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 -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Victoria

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