One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 looking at the USDA zone info for Madison it's a good idea to determine when 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.

Since pole beans are not cold tolerant you need to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant pole beans in Madison 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. If you wait 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 few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Madison. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Madison is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Madison last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your pole beans if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Madison

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 Madison

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