One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

One way of determining when it's a good idea to plant balsam is to consult the USDA zone info for Inverness.

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 it is important to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Inverness 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your balsam may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your balsam indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Inverness the average date of last frost happens on February 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Inverness is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Inverness it frosts late in the year after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your balsam in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Inverness

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Inverness

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