Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can figure out when it's a good idea to plant scarlet runner beans in Fort Smith by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Scarlet Runner Beans

Frost tolerance for scarlet runner beans:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

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

The earliest that you can plant scarlet runner beans in Fort Smith is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant scarlet runner beans and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your scarlet runner beans may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your scarlet runner beans indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Fort Smith. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Fort Smith is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Fort Smith last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your scarlet runner beans if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fort Smith

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Fort Smith

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fort Smith.