One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

You can estimate when you can plant scarlet runner beans in Rochester by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Scarlet Runner Beans

Frost tolerance for scarlet runner beans:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

It's not a good idea to plant scarlet runner beans until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant scarlet runner beans in Rochester 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 scarlet runner beans and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your scarlet runner beans may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your scarlet runner beans indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Rochester. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Rochester is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Rochester there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your scarlet runner beans if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Rochester

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 Rochester

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