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.

The best time to plant balloon flower in Lake Elmo should be determined by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Balloon Flower

Frost tolerance for balloon flower:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Balloon Flower can survive in some cold which means that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant balloon flower in Lake Elmo 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 balloon flower and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your balloon flower may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your balloon flower indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on May 15 in Lake Elmo. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Lake Elmo is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Lake Elmo there is a last frost after May 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your balloon flower if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lake Elmo

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Lake Elmo

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Lake Elmo.