One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The best time to plant runner beans in Zone 5b should be determined by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Runner beans

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

Since runner beans are not cold tolerant it's necessary to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant runner beans in Zone 5b 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. 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

In Zone 5b the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Keep in mind 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 Zone 5b and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Zone 5b last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your runner beans if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 5b

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

Plants to Grow in Zone 5b

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 5b.