Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. 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 determine when it's possible to plant balsam by looking at the USDA zone info for Gunnison.

Planting Calendar for Balsam

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

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 Gunnison is May. However, you really should wait until June if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant balsam and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your balsam may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your balsam indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Gunnison the average date of last frost happens on May 15. It might get as low as -30°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Gunnison is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Gunnison you get a frost after May 15 be ready to protect your balsam in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gunnison

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-30°F
Highest Expected Low	-25°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 -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Gunnison

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