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.

In Lowell you can determine when it's a good idea to plant runner beans by looking at 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 when the weather gets warmer.

Since runner beans do not do well in cold weather you have to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant runner beans in Lowell 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 really do well. If you are starting your runner beans indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Lowell the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Lowell and it is different every year. Half of the time in Lowell last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your runner beans if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lowell

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 Lowell

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