One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Austin you will be able 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 when the weather gets warmer.

You really shouldn't plant string beans until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant string beans in Austin is May. However, you really should wait until June 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 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 May 15 in Austin. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Austin is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Austin it frosts late in the year after May 15 be ready to protect your string beans if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Austin

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Austin

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