One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Durham you should be able to estimate when to plant garden cress.

Planting Calendar for Garden cress

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

Garden cress do not do well in cold weather which means that it's important to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant garden cress in Durham 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 garden cress and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your garden cress may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your garden cress indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Durham. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Durham is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Durham you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your garden cress in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Durham

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 Durham

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