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.

The first opportunity to plant balsam in Oakdale should be determined by looking at 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 do not do well in cold weather you need to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Oakdale. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in 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 Oakdale and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Oakdale last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your balsam if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Oakdale

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 Oakdale

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