Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's possible to determine when to plant balsam by reviewing the USDA zone info for Dowagiac.

Planting Calendar for Balsam

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

Since balsam are not cold tolerant you must wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Dowagiac. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Dowagiac is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Dowagiac there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your balsam in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Dowagiac

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Dowagiac

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