One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Bakersfield you should be able to figure out when it's the best time to plant runner beans.

Planting Calendar for Runner beans

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

Since runner beans require warm weather you have to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant runner beans in Bakersfield 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your runner beans indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Bakersfield and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Bakersfield it frosts late in the year after February 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your runner beans if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bakersfield

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 Bakersfield

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Bakersfield.