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.

In Evanston you can estimate when you can plant bittercress by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Bittercress

Frost tolerance for bittercress:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Bittercress do ok in moderate cold which tells us that you can start planting them slightly earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant bittercress in Evanston 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 bittercress and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your bittercress may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your bittercress indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Evanston. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Evanston is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Evanston there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your bittercress in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Evanston

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Evanston

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