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.

You should be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant pea by looking at the USDA zone info for Marion.

Planting Calendar for Pea

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

Pea do well in cold which means that you can start planting them much earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant pea in Marion 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 really do well. If you are starting your pea indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Marion is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Marion you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so always be ready to protect your pea in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Marion

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 Marion

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