One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 will be able to determine when it's the best time to plant balsam by looking at the USDA zone info for Holly.

Planting Calendar for Balsam

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

Balsam require warm weather which tells us that it's important to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Holly 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 little bit earlier by starting your balsam indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

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

USDA Zone Info for Holly

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 Holly

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