One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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 Santa Clara you can estimate when you can plant string beans by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for String beans

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

Since string beans do not do well in cold weather you have to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant string beans in Santa Clara 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. Any later than that and your string beans may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your string beans indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Santa Clara the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Santa Clara is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Santa Clara last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to protect your string beans in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Santa Clara

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 Santa Clara

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Santa Clara.