One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your 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 getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant runner beans is to refer to the USDA zone info for Antioch.

Planting Calendar for Runner beans

Frost tolerance for runner beans:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Runner beans are not cold tolerant which means that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant runner beans in Antioch 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. If you wait any later than that and your runner beans may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your runner beans indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Antioch. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Antioch is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Antioch you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your runner beans in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Antioch

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 Antioch

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