The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Chico can be reviewed to figure out when it's the best time to plant scarlet runner beans.

Planting Calendar for Scarlet Runner Beans

Frost tolerance for scarlet runner beans:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

It's probably not a good idea to plant scarlet runner beans until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant scarlet runner beans in Chico 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 scarlet runner beans and expect a good harvest is probably September. 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

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in Chico. You should expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Chico may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Chico you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your scarlet runner beans if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Chico

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Chico

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