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.

It's a good idea to figure out when it's possible to plant black pepper by referring to the USDA zone info for Iowa City.

Planting Calendar for Black pepper

Frost tolerance for black pepper:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Black pepper are not cold tolerant which means that it is important to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant black pepper in Iowa City is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant black pepper and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your black pepper may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your black pepper indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Iowa City. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Iowa City is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Iowa City you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your black pepper if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Iowa City

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 Iowa City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Iowa City.