frostdate name logo in white
frostdate name logo in white

When to Plant Purple Rock Cress in Pittsburgh, PA

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The best time to plant purple rock cress in Pittsburgh should be figured out by using the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Purple Rock Cress

Frost tolerance for purple rock cress: Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant: Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Purple Rock Cress tend to make it in quite a bit of cold which means that you can plant them earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant purple rock cress in Pittsburgh is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant purple rock cress and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your purple rock cress may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your purple rock cress indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Pittsburgh. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Pittsburgh may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Pittsburgh there is a last frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your purple rock cress if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Pittsburgh

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 Pittsburgh

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