One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your 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 USDA zone info for Chapel Hill can be looked at to determine when to plant snap beans.

Planting Calendar for Snap beans

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

Since snap 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 snap beans in Chapel Hill 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 snap beans and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your snap beans may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your snap beans indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Chapel Hill. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Chapel Hill is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Chapel Hill you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your snap beans if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Chapel Hill

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Chapel Hill

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Chapel Hill.