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.

One way of estimating when to plant bell peppers is to refer to the USDA zone info for Lapeer.

Planting Calendar for Bell Peppers

Frost tolerance for bell peppers:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since bell peppers do not do well in cold weather it's important to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant bell peppers in Lapeer 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your bell peppers may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your bell peppers indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Lapeer the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Lapeer is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Lapeer you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your bell peppers in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Lapeer

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 Lapeer

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