The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By referring to the USDA zone info for West Des Moines you will be able to estimate when it's the best time to plant pea.

Planting Calendar for Pea

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

Pea do well in cold weather which means that you can plant them earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant pea in West Des Moines 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 pea and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your pea may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your pea indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in West Des Moines. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for West Des Moines is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in West Des Moines last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your pea if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for West Des Moines

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 West Des Moines

You may be interested in your other planting guides for West Des Moines.