One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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 estimating when it's a good idea to plant pea is to refer to the USDA zone info for Rapid City.

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 weather which tells us that you can plant them earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant pea 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 pea and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your pea may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your pea indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Rapid City is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Rapid City there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your pea if you have a surprise 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.