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.

In Cambridge you can determine when it's a good idea to plant snap beans by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Snap beans

Frost tolerance for snap beans:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Snap beans do not do well in cold weather which means that you have to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant snap beans in Cambridge 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 really do well. If you are starting your snap beans indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Cambridge. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Cambridge is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Cambridge last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your snap beans if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Cambridge

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Cambridge

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