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.

A way of determining when it's a good idea to plant runner beans is to check out the USDA zone info for Meridian.

Planting Calendar for Runner beans

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

It's probably not a good 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 Meridian 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 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

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Meridian. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Meridian and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Meridian it frosts late in the year after March 15 so always be ready to protect your runner beans in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Meridian

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 Meridian

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