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Green beans

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When to plant green beans

Bush beans crop all at once; pole beans keep going for weeks. Seed rots in cold, wet soil, so don't rush.

Photo: Susan Slater, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The rules we use

Frost
Tender: killed by frost. Goes out 1–2 weeks after the average last frost.
Soil warm enough
Weekly mean around 15°C59°F or more
Heat limit
Average highs above 34°C93°F while it matures (flowers drop)
Warm nights
Fruit set fails when lows stay above 23°C73°F
Days to harvest
About 55 days from sowing in warm weather; longer when it is cool
Picking
About 5 weeks from one planting

General guidance, kept on the cautious side. Varieties differ: check the seed packet. How the dates are worked out.

At a glance

Grows outdoors in
84 of 89 cities
Earliest start (north)
Honolulu, January 1
Latest start (north)
Miami, September 19
Can go in this week
13 cities
No outdoor window
Anchorage, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dublin, Calgary

Green beans: city by city

Sorted from the earliest start after midwinter to the latest. Southern-hemisphere cities follow, with their seasons six months on.

Sow indoorsSow or plant outdoorsHarvestFrost seasonToday

Northern hemisphere
HonoluluHawaii
Los AngelesCalifornia
PhoenixArizona
JacksonvilleFlorida
HoustonTexas
New OrleansLouisiana
San AntonioTexas
TucsonArizona
San DiegoCalifornia
AustinTexas
Las VegasNevada
DallasTexas
CharlestonSouth Carolina
El PasoTexas
FresnoCalifornia
BirminghamAlabama
Little RockArkansas
AtlantaGeorgia
SacramentoCalifornia
CharlotteNorth Carolina
MemphisTennessee
San JoseCalifornia
Oklahoma CityOklahoma
TulsaOklahoma
RaleighNorth Carolina
NashvilleTennessee
RichmondVirginia
St. LouisMissouri
LouisvilleKentucky
BaltimoreMaryland
WashingtonDistrict of Columbia
Kansas CityMissouri
AlbuquerqueNew Mexico
CincinnatiOhio
PhiladelphiaPennsylvania
IndianapolisIndiana
ColumbusOhio
PittsburghPennsylvania
OmahaNebraska
Des MoinesIowa
New YorkNew York
ClevelandOhio
Salt Lake CityUtah
MinneapolisMinnesota
DetroitMichigan
ChicagoIllinois
BostonMassachusetts
DenverColorado
San FranciscoCalifornia
BoiseIdaho
MadisonWisconsin
FargoNorth Dakota
MilwaukeeWisconsin
MontrealQuebec
BuffaloNew York
TorontoOntario
OttawaOntario
PortlandOregon
BurlingtonVermont
PortlandMaine
BillingsMontana
VancouverBritish Columbia
SpokaneWashington
WinnipegManitoba
LondonEngland
SeattleWashington
CardiffWales
ManchesterEngland
BristolEngland
EdmontonAlberta
BirminghamEngland
HalifaxNova Scotia
BelfastNorthern Ireland
OrlandoFlorida
TampaFlorida
MiamiFlorida
Southern hemisphere
BrisbaneQueensland
PerthWestern Australia
SydneyNew South Wales
AdelaideSouth Australia
MelbourneVictoria
AucklandNew Zealand
CanberraAustralian Capital Territory
HobartTasmania

Swipe sideways to see the whole year →

Dates

CitySow outdoorsHarvest
Honolulu HawaiiJan 1 – Dec 31Jan 1 – Dec 31
Los Angeles CaliforniaFeb 4 – Dec 13Jan 1 – Dec 31
Phoenix ArizonaFeb 14 – Apr 5, Sep 28 – Oct 12Nov 8 – Jan 11, Apr 15 – Jun 18
Jacksonville FloridaFeb 21 – May 28, Aug 14 – Dec 11Sep 22 – Aug 9
Houston TexasFeb 21 – May 11, Aug 8 – Oct 12Apr 20 – Jul 23, Sep 16 – Dec 27
New Orleans LouisianaFeb 26 – May 25, Aug 9 – Oct 12Sep 17 – Jan 7, Apr 25 – Aug 6
San Antonio TexasFeb 27 – May 18, Aug 12 – Oct 1Apr 23 – Jul 30, Sep 20 – Dec 2
Tucson ArizonaMar 2 – Apr 15, Sep 3 – Oct 3Apr 29 – Jun 28, Oct 12 – Dec 8
San Diego CaliforniaMar 3 – Dec 8May 17 – Apr 26
Austin TexasMar 6 – May 22, Aug 12 – Sep 29May 1 – Aug 3, Sep 20 – Dec 2
Las Vegas NevadaMar 16 – Apr 26, Sep 9 – Sep 21May 9 – Jul 8, Oct 18 – Nov 21
Dallas TexasMar 19 – May 21, Aug 8 – Sep 22May 11 – Aug 2, Sep 16 – Nov 26
Charleston South CarolinaMar 22 – Jun 8, Jul 22 – Sep 25May 17 – Aug 20, Aug 30 – Dec 6
El Paso TexasMar 25 – Apr 27, Aug 8 – Sep 17May 17 – Jul 10, Sep 16 – Nov 18
Fresno CaliforniaMar 28 – May 11, Aug 25 – Sep 17May 24 – Jul 24, Oct 3 – Nov 19
Birmingham AlabamaApr 1 – Sep 9May 25 – Nov 10
Little Rock ArkansasApr 2 – Jun 9, Jul 14 – Sep 9May 24 – Nov 9
Atlanta GeorgiaApr 4 – Sep 6May 27 – Nov 7
Sacramento CaliforniaApr 7 – Jun 6, Jul 14 – Sep 13Jun 4 – Aug 18, Aug 22 – Nov 18
Charlotte North CarolinaApr 8 – Sep 2May 31 – Nov 2
Memphis TennesseeApr 8 – Sep 8May 29 – Nov 11
San Jose CaliforniaApr 8 – Sep 17Jun 12 – Dec 2
Oklahoma City OklahomaApr 11 – Jun 2, Jul 25 – Sep 3May 31 – Aug 14, Sep 2 – Nov 1
Tulsa OklahomaApr 11 – Jun 8, Jul 24 – Sep 4Jun 2 – Aug 20, Sep 1 – Nov 3
Raleigh North CarolinaApr 13 – Sep 2Jun 4 – Nov 3
Nashville TennesseeApr 13 – Sep 2Jun 3 – Nov 2
Richmond VirginiaApr 19 – Aug 31Jun 9 – Nov 3
St. Louis MissouriApr 23 – Aug 26Jun 11 – Oct 25
Louisville KentuckyApr 23 – Aug 28Jun 12 – Oct 30
Baltimore MarylandApr 26 – Aug 28Jun 15 – Oct 31
Washington District of ColumbiaApr 26 – Aug 28Jun 15 – Oct 31
Kansas City MissouriApr 26 – Aug 25Jun 14 – Oct 25
Albuquerque New MexicoApr 27 – May 26, Jul 4 – Aug 26Jun 15 – Aug 7, Aug 12 – Oct 27
Cincinnati OhioApr 29 – Aug 22Jun 18 – Oct 24
Philadelphia PennsylvaniaMay 3 – Aug 25Jun 21 – Oct 28
Indianapolis IndianaMay 4 – Aug 20Jun 22 – Oct 22
Columbus OhioMay 5 – Aug 19Jun 24 – Oct 21
Pittsburgh PennsylvaniaMay 7 – Aug 17Jun 26 – Oct 20
Omaha NebraskaMay 8 – Aug 16Jun 25 – Oct 17
Des Moines IowaMay 9 – Aug 14Jun 27 – Oct 16
New York New YorkMay 11 – Aug 21Jun 30 – Oct 27
Cleveland OhioMay 13 – Aug 15Jul 2 – Oct 19
Salt Lake City UtahMay 15 – Jun 5, Jul 21 – Aug 17Jul 3 – Aug 18, Aug 29 – Oct 17
Minneapolis MinnesotaMay 16 – Aug 6Jul 4 – Oct 9
Detroit MichiganMay 17 – Aug 11Jul 6 – Oct 15
Chicago IllinoisMay 18 – Aug 12Jul 8 – Oct 16
Boston MassachusettsMay 20 – Aug 13Jul 10 – Oct 17
Denver ColoradoMay 21 – Aug 7Jul 9 – Oct 7
San Francisco CaliforniaMay 21 – Sep 2Aug 7 – Nov 30
Boise IdahoMay 22 – Jun 25, Jul 13 – Aug 13Jul 13 – Oct 14
Madison WisconsinMay 23 – Aug 4Jul 14 – Oct 9
Fargo North DakotaMay 24 – Jul 29Jul 12 – Sep 29
Milwaukee WisconsinMay 25 – Aug 6Jul 16 – Oct 11
Montreal QuebecMay 25 – Aug 1Jul 17 – Oct 5
Buffalo New YorkMay 27 – Aug 6Jul 19 – Oct 13
Toronto OntarioMay 27 – Aug 4Jul 18 – Oct 8
Ottawa OntarioMay 27 – Jul 28Jul 19 – Oct 1
Portland OregonMay 29 – Aug 5Jul 28 – Oct 17
Burlington VermontMay 30 – Aug 2Jul 22 – Oct 8
Portland MaineMay 30 – Jul 31Jul 23 – Oct 7
Billings MontanaJun 1 – Jul 31Jul 21 – Oct 2
Vancouver British ColumbiaJun 2 – Jul 24Aug 5 – Oct 7
Spokane WashingtonJun 3 – Jul 28Jul 27 – Oct 1
Winnipeg ManitobaJun 4 – Jul 19Jul 26 – Sep 21
London EnglandJun 5 – Jul 24Aug 6 – Oct 15
Seattle WashingtonJun 6 – Jul 26Aug 9 – Oct 12
Cardiff WalesJun 12 – Jul 15Aug 21 – Oct 14
Manchester EnglandJun 13 – Jul 8Aug 23 – Oct 7
Bristol EnglandJun 13 – Jul 14Aug 22 – Oct 13
Edmonton AlbertaJun 16 – Jun 26Aug 20 – Sep 13
Birmingham EnglandJun 19 – Jul 1Sep 4 – Oct 3
Halifax Nova ScotiaJun 19 – Jul 25Aug 16 – Oct 6
Belfast Northern IrelandJun 20 – Jun 24Sep 12 – Oct 1
Orlando FloridaAug 10 – Jul 6Jan 1 – Dec 31
Tampa FloridaAug 23 – May 14Oct 1 – Jul 26
Miami FloridaSep 19 – Apr 25Oct 28 – Jul 7
Brisbane QueenslandAug 5 – Jul 10Jan 1 – Dec 31
Perth Western AustraliaSep 6 – Jun 18Nov 13 – Nov 4
Sydney New South WalesSep 10 – May 4Nov 15 – Oct 6
Adelaide South AustraliaOct 2 – Mar 15Dec 4 – Jun 12
Melbourne VictoriaOct 20 – Mar 2Dec 25 – May 29
Auckland New ZealandOct 28 – Mar 7Jan 3 – Jun 10
Canberra Australian Capital TerritoryNov 5 – Feb 11Jan 6 – Apr 30
Hobart TasmaniaDec 14 – Jan 12Mar 2 – Apr 22
Anchorage AlaskaNo outdoor window passes all the checks here; grow it under cover or try a specialist variety.
Edinburgh ScotlandNo outdoor window passes all the checks here; grow it under cover or try a specialist variety.
Glasgow ScotlandNo outdoor window passes all the checks here; grow it under cover or try a specialist variety.
Dublin IrelandNo outdoor window passes all the checks here; grow it under cover or try a specialist variety.
Calgary AlbertaNo outdoor window passes all the checks here; grow it under cover or try a specialist variety.

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