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When to Plant Balloon Flower in South Bend, IN

One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

It's possible to estimate when it's possible to plant balloon flower by reviewing the USDA zone info for South Bend.


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.

Balloon Flower do ok in a tiny bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other frost tender 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 South Bend 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 grow to maturity. Starting your balloon flower indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In South Bend the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for South Bend may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in South Bend it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your balloon flower in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for South Bend

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 South Bend

You may be interested in your other planting guides for South Bend.