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.

A common way of estimating when it's the best time to plant bell peppers is to use the USDA zone info for Monmouth.

Planting Calendar for Bell Peppers

Frost tolerance for bell peppers:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

It's not a good idea to plant bell peppers until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant bell peppers in Monmouth 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 bell peppers and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your bell peppers may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your bell peppers indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Monmouth the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Monmouth may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Monmouth there is a last frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your bell peppers if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Monmouth

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 Monmouth

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