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

The USDA zone info for Fort Madison can be used to determine when it's the best time to plant snap beans.

Planting Calendar for Snap beans

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

Since snap beans are not cold tolerant it's important to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Fort Madison. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Fort Madison and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Fort Madison last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your snap beans if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Fort Madison

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 Fort Madison

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fort Madison.