One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

In Groves you can figure out when it's possible to plant watercress by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Watercress

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

Watercress do ok in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant watercress in Groves 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 watercress and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your watercress may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your watercress indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Groves the average date of last frost happens on February 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Groves is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Groves it frosts late in the year after February 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your watercress in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Groves

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Groves

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