When to Plant Runner beans in Prospect Heights, IL

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

A common way of estimating when it's the best time to plant runner beans is to examine the USDA zone info for Prospect Heights.


Planting Calendar for Runner beans

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

You should not plant runner beans until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant runner beans
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant runner beans
Probably not a good time to plant runner beans

The earliest that you can plant runner beans in Prospect Heights 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else 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

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Prospect Heights. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Prospect Heights and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Prospect Heights it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your runner beans if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Prospect Heights

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 Prospect Heights

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Prospect Heights.