One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant runner beans in Elon can be determined by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Runner beans

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

You really shouldn't 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 Elon 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. Any later than that and your runner beans may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your runner beans indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Elon. You should expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Elon is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Elon last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to cover your runner beans if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Elon

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Elon

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