One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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 Downingtown you can determine when it's possible to plant pole beans by reviewing the USDA zone info.

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 are not cold tolerant you need to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant pole beans in Downingtown 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. 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

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Downingtown. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Downingtown and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Downingtown last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your pole beans in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Downingtown

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°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 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Downingtown

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