One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

In Portsmouth you can determine when it's possible to plant field peas by reviewing the USDA zone info.

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 are moderately cold tolerant which means that you can start planting them earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant field peas in Portsmouth 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 grow to maturity. Starting your field peas indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Portsmouth. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Portsmouth is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Portsmouth you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so always be ready to cover your field peas in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Portsmouth

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 Portsmouth

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