When to Plant String beans in Zone 3b

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

The first opportunity to plant string beans in Zone 3b should be estimated by checking out 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 has passed.

Since string beans are not cold tolerant it's important to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant string beans
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant string beans
Probably not a good time to plant string beans

The earliest that you can plant string beans in Zone 3b 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 fully mature. If you are starting your string beans indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on May 15 in Zone 3b. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -35°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Zone 3b and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Zone 3b you get surprised by a frost after May 15 be ready to protect your string beans in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 3b

Here is the info for USDA Zone 3b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-35°F
Highest Expected Low-30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -30°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 3b

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 3b.