Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. 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 South El Monte should be determined by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Balsam

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

You can not plant balsam until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant balsam in South El Monte 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your balsam may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your balsam indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In South El Monte the average date of last frost happens on January 31. You should expect an average low temperature of 30°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for South El Monte is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in South El Monte it frosts late in the year after January 31 be ready to protect your balsam in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for South El Monte

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 South El Monte

You may be interested in your other planting guides for South El Monte.