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 reviewing the USDA zone info for Rapid City you will be able to estimate when it's possible to plant pole beans.

Planting Calendar for Pole beans

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

Pole beans are not cold tolerant which means that you need to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant pole beans in Rapid City 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 grow to maturity. If you are starting your pole beans indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Rapid City the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Rapid City and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Rapid City there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your pole beans in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rapid City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

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

Plants to Grow in Rapid City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Rapid City.