One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

The USDA zone info for Granite City can be reviewed to determine when it's a good idea to plant black pepper.

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 you have to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant black pepper in Granite 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. Any later than that and your black pepper may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your black pepper indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Granite City the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Granite City is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Granite City there is a last frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your black pepper if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Granite City

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 Granite City

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