One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant garden cress in Olympia should be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Garden cress

Frost tolerance for garden cress:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Since garden cress are not cold tolerant it is necessary to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant garden cress in Olympia is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant garden cress and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your garden cress may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your garden cress indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Olympia the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Olympia and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Olympia last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to cover your garden cress if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Olympia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Olympia

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