GardenAnnual Legume · 51 varieties
Pea
Lathyrus oleraceus
Fabaceae — the same plant family as bush bean, pole bean, cowpea, lima bean and 9 more here. Relatives share pests and diseases, which is why rotation plans group by family.
Pea (Lathyrus oleraceus) is an annual legume. It wants full sun and pH 6–7.5 soil. It matures in about 50–70 days from sowing. Watch for aphids and powdery mildew. Below: its full sourced profile from 8 extension sources, plus a planting calendar timed to your frost dates.
Typical dates for zone 6b — set your zone or ZIP for yours. This calendar assumes the crop is direct sown. Timing is a guide from the crop's sourced growth stages; confirm with your local frost dates and extension before you sow.
What we will not put a number on
We do not give a feeding rate for this crop, and that is deliberate rather than a gap. The figures published by extension services are pounds of nitrogen per acre for a production field — they do not convert safely to a raised bed or a pot without knowing your soil test and your fertilizer's analysis, and guessing errs toward burning roots. It is also why every chart you find online disagrees with the next one.
We give watering as a depth per week rather than gallons per plant, because that is how it is actually measured and how the published figures are written. A gallons-per-plant number depends on your spacing, your soil and whether the plant is in a pot — so it would look more precise than it is.
Site & soil
- Sun
- Full sun
- Soil pH
- 6–7.5
- Soil texture
- Clay, Loam, Sandy, Well drained
- Frost tolerance
- Hardy
- Suffers in days above
- 80–85 °F
No published figure for the temperature frost starts to hurt it, the temperature that would kill it and a warm-night limit. We looked — where a number is missing here it is missing from the research, not skipped. The crop’s frost and heat tolerance above still applies.
The plant
- Mature height
- 2–5 ft
- Mature spread
- 6–12 in
- Growth rate
- Fastest
- Spacing in row
- 1–3 in
- Between rows
- 18–24 in
- Planting depth
- 0.5–1.5 in
- Container size
- 1–3 gal — low end is the minimum, high end is better
- Support
- Needs staking or a trellis
- Grown from
- Direct sow
There is no line here for how much water it wants each week, because we have no figure to put there. We went looking and wrote down what we read — it is missing on purpose, not because nobody checked.
Water & feeding
- Water needs
- Moderate
- Critical water
- Flowering, Pod fill
- Feeding
- Low
Timing & fruiting
- Days to maturity
- 50–70 days from seed
- Harvest cues
- Pods filling, Pods tender snap stage
Planted again for autumn
- South Carolina — Piedmont
- Aug 15 – Oct 30
- South Carolina — Coastal Plain
- Aug 15 – Nov 30
Published by the extension service for its own regions, and quoted here for those regions only — converting them would mean assuming a frost date somewhere else. The chart says when, not whether to sow seed or set out plants, so we do not either. Only South Carolina so far.
- Sow by
- early Sep typical · zone 6b
50 days to maturity from sowing, counted back from the first frost above. Not published for anywhere in particular: it is your own frost date and this crop's own figure, which is why it works wherever you are. A days-to-maturity figure is a catalog number for a good season rather than a promise, and a cold month moves it.
Edible parts per source: seed, fruit, leaf.
Compiled from the extensions cited below. Which ones actually show up depends on your region — your extension's local list is the last word.
The classic cool-season pair.
Same flag as beans — every chart agrees.
Companion pairings from university extensions; badge = how strong the evidence is.
Open one and add it to your garden — it lights up here. The rest of the 51 are in the full list below.
| Variety | Type | Habit | Days | Color | Disease | What it is known for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alderman Heirloom | Shelling | Tall Vine | 75 | Green | ||
| Amish Snap Heirloom | Snap | Tall Vine | 62 | Green | Fedco Seeds describes this asthe pod is edible too | |
| Avalanche Snow | Snow | Bush | 60 | Green | FUSARIUM_WILT | Johnny's Selected Seeds describes this asthe pod is edible too |
| Bistro | Shelling | Dwarf | 63 | Green | FUSARIUM_WILT POWDERY_MILDEW | |
| Blizzard Snow | Snow | Bush | 61 | Green | Fedco Seeds describes this asthe pod is edible too | |
| Blue Podded Heirloom | Shelling | Tall Vine | 80 | Purple | Urban Farmer Seeds describes this asan unusual color | |
| Carouby de Maussane Snow Heirloom | Snow | Tall Vine | 60–65 | Green | Annie's Heirloom Seeds describes this asthe pod is edible too | |
| Cascadia | Snap | Bush | 65 | Green | Fedco Seeds describes this asthe pod is edible too | |
| Champion of England Heirloom | Shelling | Tall Vine | 70 | Green | ||
| Dwarf Grey Sugar Heirloom | Snow | Dwarf | 57 | Green | Johnny's Selected Seeds describes this asthe pod is edible too · the flowers are edible | |
| Early Alaska Heirloom | Shelling | Bush | 60 | Green | COMMON_WILT | |
| Early Frosty Heirloom | Shelling | Bush | 60 | Green | FUSARIUM_WILT | |
| Emerald Archer | Shelling | Bush | 65 | Green | ||
| Golden Sweet Heirloom | Snow | Tall Vine | 67 | Yellow | Pinetree Garden Seeds describes this asthe pod is edible too · an unusual color | |
| Green Arrow | Shelling | Bush | 65 | Green | DOWNY_MILDEW FUSARIUM_WILT LEAF_CURL_VIRUS ROOT_ROT | |
| Green Beauty | Snow | Tall Vine | 60 | Green | Fedco Seeds describes this asthe pod is edible too | |
| Green Shaft | Shelling | Bush | 65–75 | Green | DOWNY_MILDEW FUSARIUM_WILT | |
| Honey Snap II Snap | Snap | Bush | 58 | Yellow | Johnny's Selected Seeds describes this asthe pod is edible too · an unusual color | |
| Lincoln Heirloom | Shelling | Bush | 62 | Green | COMMON_WILT FUSARIUM_WILT POWDERY_MILDEW | |
| Little Marvel Heirloom | Shelling | Bush | 63 | Green | COMMON_WILT | |
| Maestro | Shelling | Bush | 52 | Green | PEA_ENATION_MOSAIC_VIRUS POWDERY_MILDEW COMMON_WILT | |
| Magnolia Blossom | Snap | Tall Vine | 80 | Green | Adaptive Seeds describes this asthe pod is edible too | |
| Mammoth Melting Sugar Heirloom | Snow | Tall Vine | 72 | Green | FUSARIUM_WILT | Fedco Seeds describes this asthe pod is edible too |
| Maxigolt | Shelling | Bush | 65 | Green | ||
| Mega Snap | Snap | Bush | 64 | Green | Fedco Seeds describes this asthe pod is edible too | |
| Miragreen | Shelling | Bush | 68 | Green | ||
| Mr. Big | Shelling | Bush | 58–62 | Green | ||
| Opal Creek | Snap | Tall Vine | 70 | Yellow | Pinetree Garden Seeds describes this asthe pod is edible too · an unusual color | |
| Oregon Giant | Snow | Bush | 60 | Green | POWDERY_MILDEW PEA_ENATION_MOSAIC_VIRUS FUSARIUM_WILT | Fedco Seeds describes this asthe pod is edible too |
| Oregon Sugar Pod II | Snow | Bush | 62 | Green | POWDERY_MILDEW PEA_ENATION_MOSAIC_VIRUS FUSARIUM_WILT | Fedco Seeds describes this asthe pod is edible too |
| Perfection 326 | Shelling | Bush | 66 | Green | ||
| PLS 141 Snap | Snap | Bush | 64 | Green | FUSARIUM_WILT POWDERY_MILDEW | Johnny's Selected Seeds describes this asthe pod is edible too |
| PLS 595 | Shelling | Dwarf | 64 | Green | FUSARIUM_WILT POWDERY_MILDEW DOWNY_MILDEW | |
| Premium | Shelling | Bush | 57 | Green | FUSARIUM_WILT | |
| Progress No. 9 Heirloom | Shelling | Dwarf | 65 | Green | FUSARIUM_WILT FUSARIUM_ROOT_ROT | |
| Royal Snow | Snow | Bush | 61 | Purple | Johnny's Selected Seeds describes this asthe pod is edible too · an unusual color | |
| Snowbird | Snow | Dwarf | 55 | Green | Terra Mater Gardens describes this asthe pod is edible too · no strings · takes the cold | |
| Strike | Shelling | Dwarf | 52 | Green | ||
| Sugar Ann | Snap | Dwarf | 58 | Green | Fedco Seeds describes this asthe pod is edible too | |
| Sugar Daddy | Snap | Bush | 62–75 | Green | POWDERY_MILDEW BEAN_LEAF_ROLL_VIRUS | Botanical Interests describes this asthe pod is edible too · no strings |
| Sugar Lode Snap | Snap | Bush | 65 | Green | Fedco Seeds describes this asthe pod is edible too | |
| Sugar Magnolia Snap | Snap | Tall Vine | 70 | Purple | Pinetree Garden Seeds describes this asthe pod is edible too · an unusual color · takes the heat | |
| Sugar Snap | Snap | Tall Vine | 68 | Green | Fedco Seeds describes this asthe pod is edible too | |
| Sugar Sprint | Snap | Bush | 55 | Green | PEA_ENATION_MOSAIC_VIRUS POWDERY_MILDEW | Territorial Seed describes this asthe pod is edible too · no strings · takes the heat |
| Super Sugar Snap | Snap | Tall Vine | 61 | Green | POWDERY_MILDEW | Johnny's Selected Seeds describes this asthe pod is edible too |
| Tall Telephone Heirloom | Shelling | Tall Vine | 75 | Green | ||
| Tendersweet Snap | Snap | Bush | 65 | Green | Fedco Seeds describes this asthe pod is edible too | |
| Thomas Laxton Heirloom | Shelling | Bush | 75 | Green | ||
| Tom Thumb Heirloom | Shelling | Dwarf | 50 | Green | Urban Farmer Seeds describes this ashappy in a pot | |
| Topps | Shelling | Dwarf | 56 | Green | ||
| Wando Heirloom | Shelling | Bush | 60–70 | Green |
- Clemson Cooperative Extension, Home & Garden Information Center
- NC State Extension
- University of Maryland Extension
- University of Minnesota Extension
- Utah State University Extension
- Washington State University Extension
We compile bare facts from these university-extension and horticultural sources, never copied prose. 18 of the 19 values on this page carry a citation. The rest are marked est; hover one and it says why — either nobody publishes a figure we could point at, or a person set it and attached no source. Figures vary with climate and seed source; confirm with your local extension before you buy.
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