One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of determining when to plant green beans is to refer to the USDA zone info for Birmingham.

Planting Calendar for Green beans

Frost tolerance for green beans:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

You really shouldn't plant green beans until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant green beans in Birmingham 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 green beans and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your green beans may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your green beans indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Birmingham the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Birmingham is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Birmingham you get a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your green beans in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Birmingham

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

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

Plants to Grow in Birmingham

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