The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out 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 figuring out when to plant bittercress is to consult the USDA zone info for Charleston.

Planting Calendar for Bittercress

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

Bittercress are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather which means that you can start planting them slightly earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant bittercress in Charleston 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 bittercress and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your bittercress may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your bittercress indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Charleston. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Charleston and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Charleston it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your bittercress if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Charleston

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Charleston

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