One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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 best time to plant watercress in Winston-Salem should be estimated by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Watercress

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

Since watercress are barely cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant watercress in Winston-Salem 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 watercress and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your watercress may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your watercress indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Winston-Salem the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Winston-Salem may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Winston-Salem it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your watercress in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Winston-Salem

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 Winston-Salem

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Winston-Salem.