When to Plant Snow peas in Washington, DC

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant snow peas in Washington can be estimated by using the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Snow peas

Frost tolerance for snow peas: Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant: Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Snow peas do ok in cold weather which means that you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant snow peas in Washington 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 snow peas and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your snow peas may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your snow peas indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Washington the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Washington may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Washington you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your snow peas in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Washington

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low0°F
Highest Expected Low5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Washington

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