Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of making a decision about when you can plant bell peppers is to examine the USDA zone info for Essex Junction.

Planting Calendar for Bell Peppers

Frost tolerance for bell peppers:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Since bell peppers do not do well in cold weather you have to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant bell peppers in Essex Junction is May. However, you really should wait until June if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant bell peppers and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your bell peppers may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your bell peppers 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 May 15 in Essex Junction. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Essex Junction and it is different every year. Half of the time in Essex Junction you get surprised by a frost after May 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your bell peppers in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Essex Junction

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Essex Junction

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Essex Junction.