One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Alsip you can estimate when it's the best time to plant balloon flower by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Balloon Flower

Frost tolerance for balloon flower:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant balloon flower just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant balloon flower in Alsip 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 balloon flower and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your balloon flower may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your balloon flower indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Alsip. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Alsip and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Alsip you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your balloon flower if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Alsip

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Alsip

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