When to Plant Purple Rock Cress in Rice Lake, WI

One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your 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.

It's a good idea to figure out when it's possible to plant purple rock cress by checking out the USDA zone info for Rice Lake.


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 can survive in pretty solid cold which means that you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant purple rock cress
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant purple rock cress
Probably not a good time to plant purple rock cress

The earliest that you can plant purple rock cress in Rice Lake 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 purple rock cress and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Rice Lake. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -30°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Rice Lake may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Rice Lake you get surprised by a frost after May 15 be ready to cover your purple rock cress if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rice Lake

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-30°F
Highest Expected Low-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Rice Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Rice Lake.