When to Plant Pole beans in Ottawa, IL

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

The first chance to plant pole beans in Ottawa can be determined by using the USDA zone info.

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Planting Calendar for Pole beans

Frost tolerance for pole beans: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since pole beans do not do well in cold weather it is important to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

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

The earliest that you can plant pole beans in Ottawa is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant pole beans and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your pole beans may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your pole beans indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Ottawa and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Ottawa you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your pole beans if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ottawa

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 Ottawa

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Ottawa.