One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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 a good idea to plant field peas is to look at the USDA zone info for Washington.

Planting Calendar for Field Peas

Frost tolerance for field peas:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Field Peas can survive in a little bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant field peas in Washington 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 field peas and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your field peas may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your field peas indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Washington and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Washington last frost occurs after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your field peas if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Washington

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 Washington

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