One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to determine when it's the best time to plant peas by using the USDA zone info for Carterville.

Planting Calendar for Peas

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

Peas are very cold tolerant which means that you can start planting them much earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant peas in Carterville 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your peas may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your peas indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Carterville. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Carterville is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Carterville there is a last frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your peas if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Carterville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Carterville

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