One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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 should be able to estimate when to plant snap beans by looking at the USDA zone info for Rochelle.

Planting Calendar for Snap beans

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

Since snap beans are not cold tolerant you need to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant snap beans in Rochelle 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. Any later than that and your snap beans may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your snap beans indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Rochelle. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Rochelle is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Rochelle you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your snap beans if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rochelle

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 Rochelle

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