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

By looking at the USDA zone info for Rapid City it's a good idea to determine when it's possible to plant field peas.

Planting Calendar for Field Peas

Frost tolerance for field peas:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Field Peas do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant field peas in Rapid City 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 field peas and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your field peas may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your field peas indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Rapid City. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Rapid City is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Rapid City you get a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your field peas if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rapid City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Rapid City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Rapid City.