One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

The USDA zone info for Rochester can be reviewed to determine when to plant pole beans.

Planting Calendar for Pole beans

Frost tolerance for pole beans:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since pole beans require warm weather it is necessary to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

In Rochester the average date of last frost happens on May 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Rochester is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Rochester you get surprised by a frost after May 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your pole beans if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rochester

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 Rochester

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