The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Mattoon you can figure out when it's possible to plant pea by reviewing 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 very cold tolerant which tells us that you can get them planted much earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant pea in Mattoon 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. Any later than that and your pea may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your pea indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Mattoon the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Mattoon and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Mattoon there is a last frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your pea in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mattoon

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Mattoon

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