When to Plant Scarlet Runner Beans in Pittsfield, MA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can figure out when to plant scarlet runner beans in Pittsfield by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Scarlet Runner Beans

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

Since scarlet runner beans require warm weather you need to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant scarlet runner beans
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant scarlet runner beans
Probably not a good time to plant scarlet runner beans

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

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Pittsfield is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Pittsfield it frosts late in the year after April 15 so always be ready to cover your scarlet runner beans if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Pittsfield

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 Pittsfield

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