When to Plant Pea in Highland Park, IL

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant pea in Highland Park can be determined by referring to the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Pea

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

Pea are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which tells us that you can plant them much earlier than other frost tender plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant pea
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant pea
Probably not a good time to plant pea

The earliest that you can plant pea in Highland Park 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. If you wait any later than that and your pea may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your pea indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Highland Park. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Highland Park and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Highland Park there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your pea if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Highland Park

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 Highland Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Highland Park.