One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By using the USDA zone info for Springfield it's a good idea to estimate when it's possible to plant garden cress.

Planting Calendar for Garden cress

Frost tolerance for garden cress:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

It's probably not a good idea to plant garden cress until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant garden cress in Springfield is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant garden cress and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your garden cress may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your garden cress indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Springfield. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Springfield may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Springfield there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your garden cress in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Springfield

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Springfield

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