One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant green beans in Normal can be estimated by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Green beans

Frost tolerance for green beans:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Green beans are not cold tolerant which means that you need to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant green beans in Normal 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 green beans and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your green beans may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your green beans indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Normal the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Normal is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Normal you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your green beans if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Normal

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 Normal

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