One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. 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 figuring out when it's possible to plant pole beans is to examine the USDA zone info for Altoona.

Planting Calendar for Pole beans

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant pole beans until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant pole beans in Altoona 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. Any later than that and your pole beans may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your pole beans indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Altoona the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Altoona is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Altoona you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your pole beans if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Altoona

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Altoona

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