One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. 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 it's the best time to plant peas is to use the USDA zone info for Grand Rapids.

Planting Calendar for Peas

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

Since peas are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather you can plant them earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant peas in Grand Rapids 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 peas and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your peas may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your peas indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Grand Rapids. It might get as low as -35°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Grand Rapids is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Grand Rapids you get surprised by a frost after May 15 be ready to protect your peas if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Grand Rapids

Here is the info for USDA Zone 3b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-35°F
Highest Expected Low	-30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -30°F.

Plants to Grow in Grand Rapids

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Grand Rapids.