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.

The first opportunity to plant sweet peas in Waterloo should be figured out by using the USDA zone info.

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 do ok in some cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant sweet peas in Waterloo 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. Any later than that and your sweet peas may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your sweet peas indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Waterloo. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Waterloo may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Waterloo you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your sweet peas if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Waterloo

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 Waterloo

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