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.

You should be able to determine when it's a good idea to plant scarlet runner beans by looking at the USDA zone info for Minden.

Planting Calendar for Scarlet Runner Beans

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant scarlet runner beans until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant scarlet runner beans in Minden 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 scarlet runner beans and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your scarlet runner beans may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your scarlet runner beans indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Minden the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Minden is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Minden last frost occurs after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your scarlet runner beans if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Minden

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Minden

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