One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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 Rochester you can determine when it's possible to plant runner beans by reviewing 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 probably a bad idea to plant runner beans until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant runner beans in Rochester is May. However, you really should wait until June 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. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your runner beans indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Rochester. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Rochester is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Rochester there is a last frost after May 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your runner beans if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rochester

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Rochester

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