When to Plant Field Peas in Santa Monica, CA

One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

It's a good idea to estimate when it's possible to plant field peas by looking at the USDA zone info for Santa Monica.


Planting Calendar for Field Peas

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

You can plant field peas a little earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

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 Santa Monica 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 really do well. If you are starting your field peas indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Santa Monica the average date of last frost happens on January 31. It might get as low as 35°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Santa Monica is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Santa Monica there is a last frost after January 31 so be sure to be ready to cover your field peas if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Santa Monica

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)December 15
Lowest Expected Low35°F
Highest Expected Low40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Santa Monica

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Santa Monica.