Lime Yellow Pea is a cover crop — grown to build and protect the soil rather than for a harvest of its own. It's hardy across USDA zones 10 through 13 and shrugs off dry spells. Its summer flowers are a modest draw for honeybees. A nitrogen-fixer, it draws nitrogen from the air and feeds it back to the soil — turn it under or leave the roots in place, and the next planting inherits a richer bed.
Lime Yellow Pea — the short answer
Lime Yellow Pea: grown in zones 10–13, full sun, pH 5.5–7.5.
- USDA zones
- 10–13
- Not verified
- Soil pH
- 5.5–7.5
- FAO ECOCROP
- Sun
- Full Sun
- Converted from FAO ECOCROP
- Frost-kill temp (growing season)
- 30.2°F
- FAO ECOCROP
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS and university Extension sources — each tile names its own row's source, because per-field provenance varies.
Score Lime Yellow Pea on your exact land.
Zone averages can't see the slope, soil, frost, and sun that decide whether lime yellow pea actually takes — and those shift from one yard to the next. Enter your address and we'll score lime yellow pea against your land's real conditions.
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See Lime Yellow Pea
What Lime Yellow Pea is
Lime Yellow Pea grows as a perennial and reaches around a foot at maturity. It blooms in summer.
Mature height and bloom period: We haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.
How to grow Lime Yellow Pea
Lime Yellow Pea grows in USDA zones 10 through 13. Lime Yellow Pea does best in full sun — at least 6 hours of direct sun a day — and soil from pH 5.5 to 7.5, on well-drained ground.
USDA Zones
10-13
Not verified
Soil pH
5.5 - 7.5
FAO ECOCROP
Sun
Full Sun
Converted from FAO ECOCROP
Drainage
well (dry spells)
FAO ECOCROP
Frost Kill Temperature
30.2°F
Where cold starts killing growing tissue. Not a winter-survival floor — a dormant perennial takes far colder, which its hardiness zone answers.
FAO ECOCROP
Minimum Growing Temperature
51.8°F
Below this it stops growing rather than dies — a pace limit, not a survival limit.
FAO ECOCROP
Mature Height
1 ft
We haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.
Start the season right
Plant lime yellow pea in full sun with at least 6 hours of direct sun, once the soil has warmed and frost risk has passed. We haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.
Match the soil
Lime Yellow Pea prefers pH 5.5 to 7.5 (FAO ECOCROP). A quick soil test from your local Extension lab tells you whether to add lime or sulfur to land in band. It fixes its own nitrogen, so skip the high-nitrogen feed and instead dust the seed with a matching rhizobium inoculant at sowing.
Water while it roots in
Water deeply while lime yellow pea establishes, letting the soil dry between soakings; once its roots are in, it rides out dry spells on its own.
Turn it in before it seeds
Cut lime yellow pea down or turn it into the soil before it sets seed, while the growth is still green — that's when it returns the most to the ground.
Where Lime Yellow Pea thrives
Lime Yellow Pea is hardy across USDA zones 10 through 13. Zone is only the starting point, though: the soil pH, drainage, and frost dates on your specific land decide how well it actually does.
A USDA zone is a 10°F band of average annual extreme winter minimum, so zones 10–13 spans average winter lows from 30°F to 70°F (USDA PHZM 2023). Across the 50 states and DC, that band covers none outright but splits 8 down the middle — and which side of that line your land sits on changes the answer.
Zones 10–13·Where Lime Yellow Pea growsOpen map →
Continental US shown — Alaska and US Pacific territories sit outside the federal map's polygon dataset.
This map is derived from the USDA ARS / PRISM Plant Hardiness Zone Map (2023) and is not the official USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map.
Where Lime Yellow Pea stands, state by state
Lime Yellow Pea is rated for zones 10–13 — a cold floor USDA puts at 30 to 40°F. Across the 50 states and DC, 0 sit fully inside that band, the line runs through 8 more, and 43 sit outside it — and inside every split state, the same line runs on at county grain.
The line runs through
8 states
- California · zones 4b-11a
- Nevada · zones 4a-10a
- Arizona · zones 5b-10b
3 of 8 shown
Lime Yellow Pea’s band covers part of each of these states — which side of the line your county sits on changes the answer, and each state page draws it.
State zone extents: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) 2023. A zone is a 10°F band of average annual extreme minimum temperature, so a state that splits the band contains the boundary — its own page draws the county line, and a parcel report resolves which side your land sits on.
What grows around Lime Yellow Pea
Growing guides for lime yellow pea
In rotation planning, lime yellow pea counts as a Legume — beds recover best when legume crops don’t follow each other in the same spot year over year. (Growable Ground derivation — crop-rotation group from botanical family)
Good to know
Lime Yellow Pea offers low value to bees and other pollinators. We haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.
Your land is one point inside Lime Yellow Pea's range
This page resolves to the species. Your state page draws the county line, and a report reads the parcel — the soil pH, drainage, sun, and frost dates on your exact ground, which no species average can see.
See if Lime Yellow Pea will thrive on your land
Zone averages are a start. Your soil pH, drainage, sun exposure, and frost dates shape whether lime yellow pea actually takes. We score it against the mapped and modelled conditions at your address.
Three things about your exact spot that zone averages miss:
We read public map data for this spot — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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How we know this about Lime Yellow Pea
The figures above are cited per row, not per site: the pH band names this plant’s own source column, the three temperature figures each carry their own, and days-to-maturity cites the publication that actually lists it. All of it comes from the Growable Ground Plant Database — a compilation over FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS, and university Extension sources, published openly with per-field provenance.
Grounded inUSDA PLANTS Database
Frequently asked questions
Can I grow Lime Yellow Pea in my zone?
Lime Yellow Pea grows in USDA hardiness zones 10 through 13. Zone is one factor — soil pH, drainage, and frost dates on your specific parcel also shape whether it takes.
When should you plant Lime Yellow Pea?
Most growers plant lime yellow pea after the last spring frost, once the soil has warmed. Your local frost dates set the exact window — a Growable Ground report reads them for your address.
How much sun does Lime Yellow Pea need?
Lime Yellow Pea needs full sun — a spot that catches at least 6 hours of direct summer sun a day. We haven't confirmed this against a published source yet. In more shade it still grows, but usually gives a smaller, later crop. The catch is that a yard rarely gets even light everywhere — a fence, the house, or one tall tree can quietly take those hours. A Growable Ground report reads the real sun-hours across your land, canopy and buildings included, so you can pick the brightest bed before you plant.
What soil does Lime Yellow Pea need?
Lime Yellow Pea prefers soil pH 5.5 to 7.5, on well-drained ground (FAO ECOCROP). Your report scores your parcel's mapped soil against that using USDA SSURGO data.
Does Lime Yellow Pea attract pollinators?
Yes — lime yellow pea's flowers are a modest nectar source for honeybees. We haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.