One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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.

A way of figuring out when you can plant balsam is to examine the USDA zone info for Lyons.

Planting Calendar for Balsam

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

You can not plant balsam until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Lyons 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your balsam indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Lyons. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Lyons is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Lyons last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to cover your balsam in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Lyons

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 Lyons

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