The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's a good idea to figure out when it's a good idea to plant balsam by referring to the USDA zone info for Waukegan.

Planting Calendar for Balsam

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

It's a bad idea to plant balsam until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Waukegan 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. Any later than that and your balsam may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your balsam indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Waukegan and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Waukegan there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your balsam if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Waukegan

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 Waukegan

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