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When to Plant Balloon Flower in Moline, IL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

One way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant balloon flower is to consult the USDA zone info for Moline.


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.

Since balloon flower are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant balloon flower
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant balloon flower
Probably not a good time to plant balloon flower

The earliest that you can plant balloon flower in Moline 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. If you wait any later than that and your balloon flower may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your balloon flower indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Moline the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Moline and it is different every year. Half of the time in Moline you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your balloon flower if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Moline

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 Moline

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