One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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 earliest that you can plant string beans in Alpena can be estimated by using 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.

Since string beans require warm weather you really should wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Alpena. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Alpena and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Alpena last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to protect your string beans if you have one of those late frosts.

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.