One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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.

You should be able to estimate when it's a good idea to plant sweet peas by referring to the USDA zone info for Valparaiso.

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 are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather which tells us that you can start planting them slightly earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant sweet peas in Valparaiso is March. However, you really should wait until April 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 August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your sweet peas may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your sweet peas indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Valparaiso the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Valparaiso is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Valparaiso there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to protect your sweet peas if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Valparaiso

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Valparaiso

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