Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of determining when to plant bell peppers is to examine the USDA zone info for Espanola.

Planting Calendar for Bell Peppers

Frost tolerance for bell peppers:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

You really shouldn't plant bell peppers until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant bell peppers in Espanola 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 bell peppers and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your bell peppers may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your bell peppers indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Espanola the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Espanola and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Espanola you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your bell peppers if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Espanola

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Espanola

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