One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

The USDA zone info for Dubuque can be looked at to figure out when it's the best time to plant sweet peas.

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 other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant sweet peas in Dubuque 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. If you wait 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 few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Dubuque. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Dubuque is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Dubuque it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your sweet peas if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Dubuque

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

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

Plants to Grow in Dubuque

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