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.

The first opportunity to plant balsam in Brainerd should be figured out 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.

Balsam are not cold tolerant which tells us that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Brainerd is May. However, you really should wait until June 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 little bit earlier by starting your balsam indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on May 15 in Brainerd. You can expect an average low temperature of -35°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Brainerd may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Brainerd it frosts late in the year after May 15 be ready to cover your balsam if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Brainerd

Here is the info for USDA Zone 3b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-35°F
Highest Expected Low	-30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -30°F.

Plants to Grow in Brainerd

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