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.

In Manitowoc you can figure out when you can plant purple rock cress by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Purple Rock Cress

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

Purple Rock Cress are very cold tolerant which tells us that you can get them planted much earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant purple rock cress in Manitowoc 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 purple rock cress and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your purple rock cress may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your purple rock cress indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Manitowoc is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Manitowoc you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your purple rock cress if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Manitowoc

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Manitowoc

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