One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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 making a decision about when to plant string beans is to look at the USDA zone info for West Salem.

Planting Calendar for String beans

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

Since string beans require warm weather it's necessary to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant string beans in West Salem is May. However, you really should wait until June 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. If you wait any later than that and your string beans may not have a chance to really do well. 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

The average date of last frost is May 15 in West Salem. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for West Salem is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in West Salem it frosts late in the year after May 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your string beans in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for West Salem

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in West Salem

You may be interested in your other planting guides for West Salem.