One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Elmwood Park you will be able to figure out when you can plant sweet peas.

Planting Calendar for Sweet Peas

Frost tolerance for sweet peas:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Sweet Peas are barely cold tolerant which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant sweet peas in Elmwood Park is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant sweet peas and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your sweet peas may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your sweet peas indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Elmwood Park. You should expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Elmwood Park is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Elmwood Park last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your sweet peas if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Elmwood Park

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Elmwood Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Elmwood Park.