Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of determining when it's a good idea to plant string beans is to look at the USDA zone info for Valley.

Planting Calendar for String beans

Frost tolerance for string beans:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

It's a bad idea to plant string beans until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant string beans in Valley 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 string beans and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your string beans may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your string beans indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Valley. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Valley is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Valley there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to protect your string beans if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Valley

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 Valley

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