When to Plant Peas in Dover, NJ

One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your 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 will be able to estimate when it's possible to plant peas by reviewing the USDA zone info for Dover.


Planting Calendar for Peas

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

Peas do well in a bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them much earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant peas
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant peas
Probably not a good time to plant peas

The earliest that you can plant peas in Dover 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 peas and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your peas may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your peas indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Dover is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Dover it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your peas in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Dover

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 Dover

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