One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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 way of determining when to plant rock cress is to refer to the USDA zone info for Orange.

Planting Calendar for Rock Cress

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

Since rock cress are very cold tolerant you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The last month that you can plant rock cress and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your rock cress may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your rock cress indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Orange. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Orange is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Orange last frost occurs after February 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your rock cress if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Orange

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 Orange

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