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.

One way of estimating when it's the best time to plant black pepper is to examine the USDA zone info for Lake Forest.

Planting Calendar for Black pepper

Frost tolerance for black pepper:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

It's probably not a good idea to plant black pepper until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant black pepper in Lake Forest 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 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 really do well. Starting your black pepper indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Lake Forest. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Lake Forest may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Lake Forest last frost occurs after January 31 be ready to cover your black pepper if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lake Forest

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Lake Forest

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Lake Forest.