One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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 Rochelle can be reviewed to determine when it's a good idea to plant sweet peas.

Planting Calendar for Sweet Peas

Frost tolerance for sweet peas:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant sweet peas a bit earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant sweet peas in Rochelle is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant sweet peas and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your sweet peas may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your sweet peas indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Rochelle the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Rochelle and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Rochelle you get a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your sweet peas if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Rochelle

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Rochelle

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