Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can determine when it's the best time to plant runner beans in Ellsworth 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.

It's a bad idea to plant runner beans until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant runner beans in Ellsworth 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 fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your runner beans indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Ellsworth is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Ellsworth you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your runner beans if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ellsworth

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 Ellsworth

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