One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

You can figure out when it's the best time to plant watercress in Yakima 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 means that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant watercress in Yakima 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 watercress and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your watercress may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your watercress indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Yakima the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Yakima is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Yakima you get a frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your watercress in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Yakima

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Yakima

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