Hey bookjunky!! Ya know I notice the farmers around here are planting soybeans. So the other day I got out some seeds just to see what they say. Ya know my sugar snap peas for my area actually recommend late july. I mean I have always grown up in this area and I always knew the farmers planted their beans a little later in the year but I had never read a seed pack till the other day. Now granted it does recommend planting them earlier in the year also.

I went ahead and planted my peas and a few other types of beans. I didn't plant all of my seeds and I figured if they didn't do well I will just plant some more in late july. This is totally my opinion here but I would say for you in zone 5 you should have a better chance now than I do with the beans.

As for the marigolds well I actually was extremely late on planting them, well about 3 weeks ago I decided to plant them. If they made it they made it if they didn't they didn't. Well so far so good I already have them planted in the ground. I guess I would check to see when your first frost is and if you have approximately 3 and a half months before I would say go for it.

Here bush beans can be planted every two weeks or so until August for a continuous harvest. I no longer plant bush beans as we like pole beans.

For timing and other veg garden questions I like to check my University extension site.

Here is a link to the Illinois Extension site.

Here is a link that might be useful: Guide for beans in Illinois