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 Cave Creek you can determine when it's possible to plant balsam by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Balsam

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

Since balsam require warm weather it is important to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Cave Creek 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 balsam and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your balsam may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your balsam indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in Cave Creek. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Cave Creek and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Cave Creek you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your balsam in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Cave Creek

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°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 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Cave Creek

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Cave Creek.