One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 Downingtown can be reffered to in order to determine when you can plant string beans.

Planting Calendar for String beans

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

You should not plant string beans until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant string 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 string beans and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your string beans may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your string beans indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Downingtown the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Downingtown is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Downingtown it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your string beans if you have a surprise late frost.

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.