One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

You should be able to determine when it's the best time to plant balsam by looking at the USDA zone info for Barstow.

Planting Calendar for Balsam

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

Since balsam do not do well in cold weather it's important to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Barstow 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. 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 couple of weeks earlier by starting your balsam indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Barstow. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Barstow and it is different every year. Half of the time in Barstow you get a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your balsam if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Barstow

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

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

Plants to Grow in Barstow

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