One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

It's possible to estimate when it's the best time to plant runner beans by referring to the USDA zone info for Dallas.

Planting Calendar for Runner beans

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

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

The earliest that you can plant runner beans in Dallas 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. If you wait any later than that and your runner beans may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your runner beans indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Dallas the average date of last frost happens on March 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Dallas and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Dallas you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your runner beans if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Dallas

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Dallas

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