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

In Great Bend you can estimate when to plant balsam by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Balsam

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

Balsam require warm weather which tells us that it is important to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Great Bend 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 really do well. 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 Great Bend. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Great Bend may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Great Bend last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your balsam in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Great Bend

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Great Bend

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