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.

A common way of getting a good idea when to plant pea is to look at the USDA zone info for Alpine.

Planting Calendar for Pea

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

Since pea are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather you can plant them earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant pea in Alpine 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 few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Alpine may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Alpine there is a last frost after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your pea in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Alpine

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 Alpine

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