Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out 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.

A common way of making a decision about when to plant pole beans is to look at the USDA zone info for Sonoma.

Planting Calendar for Pole beans

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant pole beans until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant pole beans in Sonoma is March. However, you really should wait until April 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 September. Any later than that and your pole beans may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your pole beans indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Sonoma. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Sonoma is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Sonoma you get a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your pole beans if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sonoma

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Sonoma

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