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.

The first opportunity to plant string beans in Madison can be figured out by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for String beans

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

You really shouldn't plant string beans until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Madison. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Madison is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Madison you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your string beans in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Madison

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Madison

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