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

By looking at the USDA zone info for South Elgin it's possible to figure out when you can plant runner beans.

Planting Calendar for Runner beans

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

Runner beans require warm weather which tells us that it is necessary to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant runner beans in South Elgin 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. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your runner beans indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in South Elgin. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for South Elgin is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in South Elgin there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your runner beans if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for South Elgin

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 South Elgin

You may be interested in your other planting guides for South Elgin.