When to Plant Indian cress in Columbia Falls, MT

One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

The USDA zone info for Columbia Falls can be used to estimate when it's a good idea to plant indian cress.


Planting Calendar for Indian cress

Frost tolerance for indian cress: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After all chance of frost has passed.

You should not plant indian cress until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant indian cress
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant indian cress
Probably not a good time to plant indian cress

The earliest that you can plant indian cress in Columbia Falls 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 indian cress and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your indian cress may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your indian cress indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Columbia Falls the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Keep in mind 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 Columbia Falls and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Columbia Falls you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your indian cress in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Columbia Falls

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-20°F
Highest Expected Low-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Columbia Falls

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Columbia Falls.