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 common way of estimating when it's the best time to plant runner beans is to look at the USDA zone info for Los Gatos.

Planting Calendar for Runner beans

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

You can not plant runner beans until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant runner beans in Los Gatos 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 few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Los Gatos the average date of last frost happens on February 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Los Gatos is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Los Gatos it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to cover your runner beans in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Los Gatos

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 Los Gatos

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Los Gatos.