When to plant Lima Beans
Computed from land-grant Extension planting-window rules (cited below), localized to real ZIP-level median frost dates, not a single national guess. These are national-generic rules by hardiness class; individual state Extension offices layer their own regional adjustment on top (earlier in the Deep South, later in the Upper Midwest). Enter your ZIP for your own dates, or read the four representative locations below.
Planting windows and crop timing here are computed from USDA/NOAA climate data and the university extension sources cited below, not a site visit or soil test. Treat this as a starting point: local conditions vary, and a local nursery or extension office can advise on your exact site. See our full Disclaimer.
Representative timing, by climate band
When to plant Lima Beans in four US climates
Each column is the most nursery-dense location in our directory within that USDA zone band, computed from that location's own real median frost dates, not a made-up example.
| Stage |
Zones 1-5 (cold winters)
Fort Plain, NY |
Zones 6-7 (temperate)
McMinnville, TN |
Zones 8-9 (warm)
Apopka, FL |
Zones 10-13 (hot, frost rare or absent)
Loxahatchee, FL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start seed indoors | Not available | Not available | Not available | – |
| Direct-sow outside | May 13–May 27 | Apr 14–Apr 28 | Mar 3–Mar 17 | – |
| Transplant outside | Not available | Not available | Not available | – |
| Fall planting | Not available | Not available | Not available | – |
| Expected harvest | Jul 17–Aug 30 | Jun 18–Aug 1 | May 7–Jun 20 | – |
Zones 10-13 (hot, frost rare or absent) (Loxahatchee, FL): Frost is rare here (about 359 frost-free days a year); most years see little or no hard freeze. This is a very tender crop. In climates like this one, tender and very-tender crops typically go in before the hottest months arrive, not on a frost-relative schedule.
Lima beans go into the ground one to three weeks after your last frost. Colorado State University Extension places lima beans in its very-tender tier, a stricter classification than the plain tender tier it gives snap and pole beans, but Colorado State's own table gives no lima-specific week count to go with that label. Purdue Extension's soil-temperature table (HO-186-W) supplies the 60°F minimum soil temperature used here.
The one-to-three-week window shown is narrower than the standard very-tender range this page uses elsewhere, because Virginia Cooperative Extension's zone planting dates (Pub. 426-331) start lima beans close to the same time as snap beans in several zones, a less strict reading than a full two-or-more-weeks-after-frost rule would suggest. Days to maturity combine bush types (65 to 80 days, NC State and Missouri Extension) and pole types (75 to 95 days, the same two sources) into one wide range, since the two habits mature at genuinely different rates.
As a very-tender crop, a cold-winter climate needs the soil to hold at 60°F before seeding, whatever week that lands on relative to frost; a mild-winter climate reaches that soil temperature sooner and can seed earlier in real calendar terms.
Lima beans are seed-only at the nursery. Bush and pole types are usually sold separately, since they carry different days-to-maturity figures and different space and trellis needs once planted.
Frost hardiness
Very tender. Killed by even light frost or cold soil. Plant well after the last frost date, once soil has warmed.
Minimum soil temperature
60°F
For direct sowing/germination, where an Extension source stated it.
Days to maturity
65–95
Sourcing notes
CSU explicitly places lima beans in its Very Tender tier (distinct from the merely-Tender snap/pole beans) but gave no crop-specific numbers; PURDUE Table 3 supplies the 60F min soil temp. DTM combines bush (65-80 days, NCSU/MOEXT) and pole (75-95 days, NCSU/MOEXT) types into one wide range - flagged. VCE's zone planting dates for lima start close to the same time as snap beans in several zones, less strict than a full 2wk-after-frost very_tender rule, so the window used (1-3wk after) is narrower than the standard very_tender range.
Related crops
Growing zones for this crop
Nurseries near these locations
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Sources
- Colorado State University Extension, Vegetable Planting Guide (Fact Sheet 7.212) (accessed 2026-08-04)
- University of Missouri Extension, Vegetable Planting Calendar (G6201) (accessed 2026-08-04)
- NC State Extension, Central North Carolina Planting Calendar for Annual Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs (AG-756-01) (accessed 2026-08-04)
- Purdue Extension (Dept. of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture), Indiana Vegetable Planting Calendar (HO-186-W) (accessed 2026-08-04)
- Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech and Virginia State University, Virginia's Home Garden Vegetable Planting Guide (Pub. 426-331) (accessed 2026-08-04)