One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can determine when it's the best time to plant pole beans in Iowa City by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Pole beans

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

Since pole beans require warm weather it is necessary to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant pole beans in Iowa City 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your pole beans may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your pole beans indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Iowa City and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Iowa City last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your pole beans if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Iowa City

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 Iowa City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Iowa City.