Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant bittercress in Swarthmore can be figured out by checking out the USDA zone info.

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.

You can plant bittercress a bit earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant bittercress in Swarthmore 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 really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your bittercress indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Swarthmore. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Swarthmore is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Swarthmore you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your bittercress in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Swarthmore

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

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

Plants to Grow in Swarthmore

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