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.

It's a good idea to estimate when to plant rock cress by reviewing the USDA zone info for Albemarle.

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 cold which means that you can plant them a quite a bit earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant rock cress in Albemarle 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your rock cress may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your rock cress indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Albemarle. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Albemarle may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Albemarle you get a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your rock cress in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Albemarle

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Albemarle

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