One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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.

A way of determining when it's a good idea to plant string beans is to examine the USDA zone info for Molalla.

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.

It's not a good idea to plant string beans until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant string beans in Molalla 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 string beans and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your string beans may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your string beans indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Molalla. You can expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Molalla is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Molalla last frost occurs after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your string beans if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Molalla

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Molalla

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