One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

In Donaldsonville you can estimate when you can 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 means that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Donaldsonville 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 balsam and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your balsam may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your balsam indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Donaldsonville. You can expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Donaldsonville is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Donaldsonville last frost occurs after February 15 so always be ready to protect your balsam in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Donaldsonville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Donaldsonville

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