One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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.

A common way of determining when it's a good idea to plant purple rock cress is to examine the USDA zone info for Smithville.

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.

You can plant purple rock cress much earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant purple rock cress in Smithville 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your purple rock cress may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your purple rock cress indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Smithville. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Smithville is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Smithville there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your purple rock cress in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Smithville

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 Smithville

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