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.

It's a good idea to figure out when you can plant balsam by looking at the USDA zone info for Sacramento.

Planting Calendar for Balsam

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

Since balsam do not do well in cold weather it's important to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Sacramento 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. Starting your balsam indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Sacramento. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Sacramento is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Sacramento there is a last frost after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your balsam if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sacramento

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 Sacramento

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