Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Houghton should be used to determine when you can plant string beans.

Planting Calendar for String beans

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant string beans until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant string beans in Houghton 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

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

Since the USDA zone info for Houghton is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Houghton you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your string beans in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Houghton

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 Houghton

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