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.

It's a good idea to determine when to plant runner beans by checking out the USDA zone info for Springfield.

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 should not plant runner beans until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant runner beans in Springfield is March. However, you really should wait until April 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 September. If you wait any later than that and your runner beans may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your runner beans indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Springfield. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Springfield and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Springfield it frosts late in the year after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your runner beans if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Springfield

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°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 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Springfield

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