One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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 Steamboat Springs should be reffered to in order to figure out when 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 do not do well in cold weather it's necessary to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant runner beans in Steamboat Springs is May. However, you really should wait until June 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 August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your runner beans may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your runner beans indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Steamboat Springs. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Steamboat Springs is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Steamboat Springs last frost occurs after May 15 be ready to protect your runner beans if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Steamboat Springs

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°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 -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Steamboat Springs

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Steamboat Springs.