One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

It's possible to figure out when it's a good idea to plant runner beans by looking at the USDA zone info for Middletown.

Planting Calendar for Runner beans

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

Since runner beans do not do well in cold weather you must wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant runner beans in Middletown 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 runner beans and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your runner beans may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your runner beans indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Middletown. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Middletown is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Middletown there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your runner beans in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Middletown

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Middletown

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