One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

In Hermitage you can determine when it's the best time to plant watercress by referring to 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 do ok in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant watercress in Hermitage 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 fully mature. Starting your watercress indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Hermitage. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

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

USDA Zone Info for Hermitage

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 Hermitage

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