The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine 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 it's the best time to plant runner beans is to examine the USDA zone info for Yelm.

Planting Calendar for Runner beans

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

Since runner beans require warm weather you must wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant runner beans in Yelm 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 grow to maturity. If you are starting your runner beans indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Yelm the average date of last frost happens on March 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Yelm may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Yelm you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your runner beans if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Yelm

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Yelm

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