One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Zone 5b you should be able to determine when it's possible to plant pea.

Planting Calendar for Pea

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

You can plant pea earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant pea in Zone 5b 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. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your pea indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Zone 5b. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Zone 5b is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Zone 5b last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your pea in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 5b

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 5b

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 5b.