When to Plant Green Beans in Georgia: Spring and Late-Season Dates
What Georgia’s extension calendar says about green beans, copied region by region, plus the frost record at Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport, Macon Middle Ga Regional Airport, and Augusta Bush Field Airport.
Updated
Figures checked against their sources on ; next check .
Georgia is covered by University of Georgia Cooperative Extension’s own table, and green beans sit under the heading “beans (snap, pole, and lima)”, in it as a separate row for 3 parts of the state. This calendar is coarser than most: Middle Georgia (April, with a second planting within 2 to 3 weeks and a third in May), South Georgia (Spring planting dates as much as 2 to 3 weeks earlier), and North Georgia (Spring planting dates 1 to 3 weeks later, moving north through the mountain counties). Whether the dates mean seed or set-out plants is left unsaid for this row.
Green Beans: the Georgia table
UGA’s example of the count-back rule uses snap beans: 55 days to maturity and a frost date of November 15 give a last planting day of September 3.
UGA says to plant tall-growing crops such as okra, pole beans and corn on the north side of other vegetables to avoid shading.
| Part of the state | Spring planting | Late-season planting |
|---|---|---|
| Middle Georgia | April, with a second planting within 2 to 3 weeks and a third in May | Snap beans by August 15 |
| South Georgia | Spring planting dates as much as 2 to 3 weeks earlier | Fall planting dates as much as 2 weeks later |
| North Georgia | Spring planting dates 1 to 3 weeks later, moving north through the mountain counties | Fall planting dates about 2 weeks earlier |
What to know about this source
UGA says the two major planting periods are spring, March to May, and fall, mid-July to September. To work out a fall planting date, it says to find the frost date and count back the days to maturity plus 18 days for harvest.
Do green beans get an indoor start?
The general sources have little to say about starting green beans indoors, since UNH has them go straight into the ground.
UNH lists beans as a seed crop sown after the last frost, with no indoor start, so the saved sources give no seed-starting weeks for beans at all.
UNH’s own timing for green beans is after the last frost, so Georgia’s printed window and UNH’s rule of thumb can be set side by side.
| Source | What it says |
|---|---|
| University of New Hampshire | Not started indoors; sow seed after the last frost |
Frost dates for Georgia cities
The dates come straight from NOAA’s frost and freeze normals at the 32°F threshold; the frost dates tool shows earlier and later odds for the same stations.
Regions in the last column come from the source’s wording, never from our reading of a map.
| Station | Last spring 32°F | First fall 32°F | Region in Georgia’s calendar |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport, Georgia | March 15 | November 20 | Not stated by the source |
| Macon Middle Ga Regional Airport, Georgia | March 21 | November 10 | Middle Georgia |
| Augusta Bush Field Airport, Georgia | March 23 | November 9 | Middle Georgia |
| Columbus Metro Airport, Georgia | March 5 | November 23 | Middle Georgia |
| Savannah International Airport, Georgia | March 2 | November 30 | Not stated by the source |
Worked example
Take Augusta Bush Field Airport, Georgia. NOAA’s 1991-2020 normals put the 50% last spring 32°F night on March 23 and the 50% first fall one on November 9.
Only months are given for Middle Georgia: April. The frost date of March 23 lands before the window opens.
On the fall side, Middle Georgia’s last planting date of August 15 leaves 86 days before the November 9 median first freeze.
Treat the result as a way to see how far the printed dates sit from a real frost record. Your yard may run weeks off the station, so repeat the sum with the station closest to you.
Before you rely on these dates
The circular gives the last planting dates for fall crops, not a window, so the second column is a deadline.
Treat the table as a starting range and look at the ten-day forecast before setting out anything tender.
Sources (3)
- University of Georgia Cooperative Extension (Bob Westerfield), Vegetable Garden Calendar, Circular 943, published with full review March 10, 2026 extension.uga.edu
- NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020, annual and seasonal normals (frost/freeze probabilities by station) ncei.noaa.gov
- University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension, Growing Vegetables: When to Plant Your Vegetable Garden (fact sheet) extension.unh.edu