One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Athens you can estimate when it's the best time to plant pole beans by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Pole beans

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

Pole beans are not cold tolerant which tells us that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant pole beans in Athens 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 really do well. 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 Athens the average date of last frost happens on March 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Athens and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Athens it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to protect your pole beans if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Athens

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Athens

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