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.

You can determine when it's a good idea to plant balsam in Prospect by using 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.

You really shouldn't plant balsam until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Prospect 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. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your balsam indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Prospect the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Prospect is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Prospect last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your balsam in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Prospect

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 Prospect

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