Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to estimate when it's the best time to plant watercress by checking out the USDA zone info for Ogallala.

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.

Watercress do ok in moderate cold which tells us that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant watercress in Ogallala 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. Any later than that and your watercress may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your watercress indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Ogallala. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Ogallala and it is different every year. Half of the time in Ogallala you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your watercress in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ogallala

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Ogallala

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