One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Holyoke it's a good idea to estimate when to plant string beans.

Planting Calendar for String beans

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant string beans until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant string beans in Holyoke 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. If you wait any later than that and your string beans may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your string beans indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Holyoke. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Holyoke and it is different every year. Half of the time in Holyoke it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your string beans in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Holyoke

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 Holyoke

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