One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

One way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant string beans is to examine the USDA zone info for Huntsville.

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 when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant string beans in Huntsville 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 really do well. Starting your string beans indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Huntsville the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Huntsville is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Huntsville it frosts late in the year after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your string beans in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Huntsville

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 Huntsville

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