Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Kenai you will be able to estimate when you can plant balsam.

Planting Calendar for Balsam

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

Balsam are not cold tolerant which tells us that you must wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Kenai 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 really do well. If you are starting your balsam indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on May 15 in Kenai. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Kenai and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Kenai it frosts late in the year after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your balsam in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Kenai

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 Kenai

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