One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant runner beans in University Park should be estimated by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Runner beans

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

Since runner beans are not cold tolerant you need to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant runner beans in University Park 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 really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your runner beans indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in University Park. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for University Park and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in University Park you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your runner beans if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for University Park

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in University Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for University Park.