Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. 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 Dekalb can be reffered to in order to estimate when it's possible 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 tend to make it in very little cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant sweet peas in Dekalb 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. Any later than that and your sweet peas may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your sweet peas indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Dekalb 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 Dekalb is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Dekalb you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your sweet peas in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Dekalb

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 Dekalb

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