One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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 USDA zone info for Indianapolis should be looked at to determine when to plant runner beans.

Planting Calendar for Runner beans

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

Since runner beans require warm weather you have to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant runner beans in Indianapolis 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. Any later than that and your runner beans may not have a chance to fully mature. 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 when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Indianapolis. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Indianapolis and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Indianapolis you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your runner beans in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Indianapolis

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Indianapolis

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