Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of estimating when it's possible to plant green beans is to consult the USDA zone info for Alpena.

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 do not do well in cold weather which tells us that you must 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 green beans in Alpena 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 really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your green beans indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Alpena. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Alpena and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Alpena last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your green beans in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Alpena

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 Alpena

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