One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Carpinteria should be determined by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Balsam

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

Since balsam are not cold tolerant you really should wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Carpinteria is February. However, you really should wait until March 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. Any later than that and your balsam may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your balsam indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Carpinteria. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Carpinteria may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Carpinteria it frosts late in the year after January 31 be ready to protect your balsam if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Carpinteria

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°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 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Carpinteria

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