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

By using the USDA zone info for Ottawa you will be able to estimate when to plant peas.

Planting Calendar for Peas

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

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

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

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Ottawa may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Ottawa it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your peas if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ottawa

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 Ottawa

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