One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. 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 Scranton should be used to determine when to plant bittercress.

Planting Calendar for Bittercress

Frost tolerance for bittercress:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since bittercress are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant bittercress in Scranton 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 bittercress and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your bittercress may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your bittercress indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Scranton. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Scranton may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Scranton you get a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your bittercress in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Scranton

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 Scranton

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