The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of figuring out when you can plant runner beans is to consult the USDA zone info for Albuquerque.

Planting Calendar for Runner beans

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

Since runner beans do not do well in cold weather you have to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant runner beans in Albuquerque 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. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your runner beans indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Albuquerque. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Albuquerque and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Albuquerque there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your runner beans in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Albuquerque

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 Albuquerque

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