One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

The first opportunity to plant peas in Council Bluffs can be estimated by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Peas

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

You can plant peas earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant peas in Council Bluffs 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 peas and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your peas may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your peas indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Council Bluffs the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Council Bluffs is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Council Bluffs it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your peas in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Council Bluffs

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°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 -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Council Bluffs

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Council Bluffs.