One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant bell peppers is to refer to the USDA zone info for Cottonwood.

Planting Calendar for Bell Peppers

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

Bell Peppers require warm weather which means that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant bell peppers in Cottonwood 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 grow to maturity. Starting your bell peppers indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Cottonwood the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Cottonwood and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Cottonwood it frosts late in the year after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your bell peppers in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Cottonwood

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

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

Plants to Grow in Cottonwood

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