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 Clive can be used to figure out when it's a good idea 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.

Balsam are not cold tolerant which means that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Clive is April. However, you really should wait until May 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. If you wait 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 few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Clive. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Clive is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Clive you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your balsam if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Clive

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Clive

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