One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

In Roanoke you can determine when it's a good idea to plant peas by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Peas

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

Peas do ok in pretty solid cold which tells us that you can plant them earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant peas in Roanoke 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 peas and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your peas may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your peas indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Roanoke. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Roanoke may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Roanoke last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your peas if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Roanoke

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Roanoke

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