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.

It's a good idea to estimate when it's the best time to plant runner beans by reviewing the USDA zone info for Norfolk.

Planting Calendar for Runner beans

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

Runner beans require warm weather which tells us that it is necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant runner beans in Norfolk 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 little bit earlier by starting your runner beans indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Norfolk. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Norfolk and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Norfolk last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your runner beans if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Norfolk

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Norfolk

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