One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Rifle should be read to figure out when you can 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 has passed.

It's a bad idea to plant scarlet runner beans until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant scarlet runner beans in Rifle 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

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Rifle. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Rifle may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Rifle it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your scarlet runner beans in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rifle

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Rifle

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