When to Plant Balsam in Lewistown, MT

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out 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 determining when it's possible to plant balsam is to consult the USDA zone info for Lewistown.


Planting Calendar for Balsam

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

Since balsam are not cold tolerant you need to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant balsam
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant balsam
Probably not a good time to plant balsam

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Lewistown is May. However, you really should wait until June if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant balsam and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your balsam may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your balsam indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on May 15 in Lewistown. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -30°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Lewistown and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Lewistown last frost occurs after May 15 be ready to protect your balsam in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lewistown

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-30°F
Highest Expected Low-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Lewistown

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