One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant runner beans is to consult the USDA zone info for El Mirage.

Planting Calendar for Runner beans

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

Runner beans are not cold tolerant which tells us that you need to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant runner beans in El Mirage is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant runner beans and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your runner beans may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your runner beans indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in El Mirage. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for El Mirage is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in El Mirage you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your runner beans in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for El Mirage

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in El Mirage

You may be interested in your other planting guides for El Mirage.