Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Knoxville you can estimate when to plant runner beans by using the USDA zone info.

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 have to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant runner beans in Knoxville 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 really do well. If you are starting your runner beans indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Knoxville and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Knoxville you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your runner beans in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Knoxville

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 Knoxville

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