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.

In Melbourne you can estimate when you can plant sweet peas by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Sweet Peas

Frost tolerance for sweet peas:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Sweet Peas do ok in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant sweet peas in Melbourne 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 sweet peas and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your sweet peas may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your sweet peas indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Melbourne the average date of last frost happens on February 15. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Melbourne is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Melbourne it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to protect your sweet peas in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Melbourne

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 Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°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 Melbourne

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