When to Plant Field Peas in Palo Alto, CA

One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

The first opportunity to plant field peas in Palo Alto should be estimated by reviewing the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Field Peas

Frost tolerance for field peas: Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant: Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Field Peas tend to make it in a little bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant field peas
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant field peas
Probably not a good time to plant field peas

The earliest that you can plant field peas in Palo Alto is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant field peas and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your field peas may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your field peas indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Palo Alto. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Palo Alto and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Palo Alto it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to protect your field peas in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Palo Alto

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)December 15
Lowest Expected Low25°F
Highest Expected Low30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Palo Alto

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Palo Alto.