One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

In Northport you can figure out when to plant balloon flower 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.

Since balloon flower do ok in moderate cold you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant balloon flower in Northport is March. However, you really should wait until April 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. Starting your balloon flower indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Northport the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Northport may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Northport it frosts late in the year after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your balloon flower in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Northport

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Northport

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