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

In Hillsdale you can determine when it's a good idea to plant watercress 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.

Watercress are barely cold tolerant which means that you can start planting them slightly earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant watercress in Hillsdale 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your watercress indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Hillsdale 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.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Hillsdale is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Hillsdale it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your watercress if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hillsdale

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 Hillsdale

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