Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate 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 getting a good idea when you can plant black pepper is to consult the USDA zone info for Gulf Shores.

Planting Calendar for Black pepper

Frost tolerance for black pepper:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Black pepper are not cold tolerant which tells us that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant black pepper in Gulf Shores 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 black pepper and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your black pepper may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your black pepper indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in Gulf Shores. You should expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Gulf Shores and it is different every year. Half of the time in Gulf Shores it frosts late in the year after February 15 so always be ready to protect your black pepper if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gulf Shores

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°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 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Gulf Shores

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Gulf Shores.