One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

It's possible to determine when it's a good idea to plant black pepper by referring to the USDA zone info for Pleasant Hill.

Planting Calendar for Black pepper

Frost tolerance for black pepper:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

You can not plant black pepper until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant black pepper in Pleasant Hill 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 black pepper and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your black pepper may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your black pepper indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Pleasant Hill the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Pleasant Hill is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Pleasant Hill you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your black pepper in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Pleasant Hill

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Pleasant Hill

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Pleasant Hill.