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 figuring out when it's the best time to plant watercress is to examine the USDA zone info for Baraboo.

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 moderate cold which means that you can start planting them slightly earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant watercress in Baraboo 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 watercress and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your watercress may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your watercress indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Baraboo the average date of last frost happens on May 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Baraboo is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Baraboo there is a last frost after May 15 be ready to cover your watercress if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Baraboo

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

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

Plants to Grow in Baraboo

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