One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

You should be able to estimate when it's a good idea to plant bell peppers by referring to the USDA zone info for Lakeville.

Planting Calendar for Bell Peppers

Frost tolerance for bell peppers:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

It's a bad idea to plant bell peppers until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant bell peppers in Lakeville is May. However, you really should wait until June 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 fully mature. If you are starting your bell peppers indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Lakeville. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Lakeville is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Lakeville you get surprised by a frost after May 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your bell peppers in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Lakeville

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 Lakeville

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