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.

The first opportunity to plant balsam in Marathon can be determined by looking at 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.

It's probably a bad idea to plant balsam until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Marathon is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant balsam and expect a good harvest is probably November. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Marathon it never frosts. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 45°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Marathon is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since it never frosts in Marathon you do not have to be ready to protect your balsam if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Marathon

Here is the info for USDA Zone 11b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	Never
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	Never
Lowest Expected Low	45°F
Highest Expected Low	50°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 45°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 50°F.

Plants to Grow in Marathon

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