One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

You will be able to determine when it's the best time to plant runner beans by checking out the USDA zone info for Hickory Hills.

Planting Calendar for Runner beans

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

It's a bad idea to plant runner beans until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant runner beans in Hickory Hills 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 really do well. 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 Hickory Hills. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Hickory Hills and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Hickory Hills there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your runner beans in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hickory Hills

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 Hickory Hills

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Hickory Hills.