When to Plant Pole beans in Durham, NC

One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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 referring to the USDA zone info for Durham it's possible to determine when you can 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.

You should not plant pole beans until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant pole beans
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant pole beans
Probably not a good time to plant pole beans

The earliest that you can plant pole beans in Durham 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 pole beans and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your pole beans may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your pole beans indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Durham the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Durham is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Durham it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your pole beans in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Durham

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 Low5°F
Highest Expected Low10°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 Durham

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