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 determining when it's a good idea to plant balloon flower is to check out the USDA zone info for Winthrop Harbor.

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 slightly earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant balloon flower in Winthrop Harbor 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. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your balloon flower indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Winthrop Harbor is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Winthrop Harbor you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your balloon flower in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Winthrop Harbor

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 Winthrop Harbor

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Winthrop Harbor.