When to Plant Scarlet Runner Beans in Altoona, PA

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 determine when it's possible to plant scarlet runner beans in Altoona by checking out 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 has passed.

It's probably not a good idea to plant scarlet runner beans until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant scarlet runner beans
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant scarlet runner beans
Probably not a good time to plant scarlet runner beans

The earliest that you can plant scarlet runner beans in Altoona 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. Any later than that and your scarlet runner beans may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your scarlet runner beans indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Altoona. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Altoona is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Altoona last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your scarlet runner beans in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Altoona

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-10°F
Highest Expected Low-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Altoona

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