When to Plant Peas in Zone 9a

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.

The USDA zone info for Zone 9a should be looked at to determine when it's the best time to plant peas.


Planting Calendar for Peas

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

You can plant peas quite a bit earlier in the year because they do well in cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant peas in Zone 9a is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant peas and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your peas may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your peas indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Zone 9a. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Zone 9a and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Zone 9a you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your peas if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 9a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)December 15
Lowest Expected Low20°F
Highest Expected Low25°F

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

Plants to Grow in Zone 9a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 9a.