One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

The first opportunity to plant peas in Sumter can be determined by reviewing the USDA zone info.

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 cold weather which means that you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant peas in Sumter 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. If you wait any later than that and your peas may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your peas indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Sumter. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Sumter may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Sumter you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your peas if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sumter

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 Sumter

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