One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your 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.

In Shelby you can estimate when it's a good idea to plant bittercress by looking at the USDA zone info.

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.

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

The earliest that you can plant bittercress in Shelby 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else 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 Shelby. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Shelby may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Shelby there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your bittercress in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Shelby

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 Shelby

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