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 Grand Rapids you can estimate when it's possible to plant balsam by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Balsam

Frost tolerance for balsam:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since balsam require warm weather you really should wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Grand Rapids 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 fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your balsam indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Grand Rapids. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Grand Rapids 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 Grand Rapids you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your balsam if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Grand Rapids

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 Grand Rapids

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Grand Rapids.