One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 figure out when to plant bittercress by looking at the USDA zone info for Carteret.

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.

Bittercress are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather which means that you can plant them slightly earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant bittercress in Carteret 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. Starting your bittercress indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Carteret the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Carteret may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Carteret you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your bittercress in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Carteret

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Carteret

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