When to Plant Pea in Norfolk, VA

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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 earliest that you can plant pea in Norfolk should be estimated by using the USDA zone info.


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 very cold tolerant you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant pea
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant pea
Probably not a good time to plant pea

The earliest that you can plant pea in Norfolk 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 grow to maturity. 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

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Norfolk. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Norfolk and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Norfolk you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your pea in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Norfolk

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 Low10°F
Highest Expected Low15°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 Norfolk

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