One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant pea in Austin can be figured out by referring to 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 means that you can get them planted much earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant pea in Austin 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 pea and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your pea may not have a chance to grow to maturity. 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

On average the last frost is on May 15 in Austin. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Austin is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Austin you get a frost after May 15 be ready to protect your pea in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Austin

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Austin

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