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.

One way of figuring out when it's the best time to plant snap beans is to look at the USDA zone info for Island Lake.

Planting Calendar for Snap beans

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

Snap beans require warm weather which tells us that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant snap beans in Island Lake 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your snap beans indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Island Lake the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Island Lake is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Island Lake it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your snap beans in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Island Lake

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 Island Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Island Lake.