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.

The USDA zone info for Elgin can be used to estimate when you can plant field peas.

Planting Calendar for Field Peas

Frost tolerance for field peas:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant field peas just a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant field peas in Elgin 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 field peas and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your field peas may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your field peas indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Elgin and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Elgin you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your field peas if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Elgin

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 Elgin

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