The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Portage you can determine when it's the best time to plant green beans by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Green beans

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

It's a bad idea to plant green beans until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant green beans in Portage 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 green beans and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your green beans may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your green beans indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Portage. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Portage and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Portage last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your green beans if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Portage

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 Portage

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