One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to determine when you can plant runner beans by using the USDA zone info for Zone 8b.

Planting Calendar for Runner beans

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

Runner beans require warm weather which tells us that you need to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant runner beans in Zone 8b 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 fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your runner beans indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Zone 8b. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 8b is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Zone 8b there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to cover your runner beans if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 8b

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 Zone 8b

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 8b.