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.

In Lincolnwood you can determine when to plant balsam by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Balsam

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

It's not a good idea to plant balsam until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Lincolnwood. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Lincolnwood may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Lincolnwood you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your balsam if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lincolnwood

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 Lincolnwood

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