One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

You can figure out when it's the best time to plant balsam in Franklin by checking out 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 should not plant balsam until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Franklin 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. If you wait any later than that and 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

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Franklin. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Franklin and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Franklin last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your balsam in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Franklin

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 Franklin

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