When to Plant Garden cress in Lancaster, PA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Lancaster should be read to determine when you can plant garden cress.


Planting Calendar for Garden cress

Frost tolerance for garden cress: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since garden cress require warm weather you must wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant garden cress
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant garden cress
Probably not a good time to plant garden cress

The earliest that you can plant garden cress in Lancaster 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 grow to maturity. Starting your garden cress indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Lancaster the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Lancaster and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Lancaster you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your garden cress if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lancaster

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-5°F
Highest Expected Low0°F

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

Plants to Grow in Lancaster

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