One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Lakeland should be reffered to in order to estimate when it's possible to plant balsam.

Planting Calendar for Balsam

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

Since balsam require warm weather it is necessary to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Lakeland 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 few weeks earlier by starting your balsam indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Lakeland. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Lakeland is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Lakeland it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to cover your balsam if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lakeland

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 Lakeland

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