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.

In Smithfield you can figure out when to plant pea 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.

You can plant pea a lot earlier in the year because they are very cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant pea in Smithfield is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant pea and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your pea may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your pea indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Smithfield. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Smithfield may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Smithfield it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to cover your pea in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Smithfield

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Smithfield

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