One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

One way of determining when it's a good idea to plant pea is to use the USDA zone info for Bend.

Planting Calendar for Pea

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

Pea do ok in cold weather which tells us that you can plant them earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant pea in Bend 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. If you wait any later than that and your pea may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your pea indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Bend. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Bend may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Bend there is a last frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your pea if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bend

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Bend

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