One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Fergus Falls can be reffered to in order to estimate when it's the best time to plant balsam.

Planting Calendar for Balsam

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

It's a bad idea to plant balsam until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Fergus Falls 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. If you wait any later than that and your balsam may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your balsam indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Fergus Falls. It might get as low as -30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Fergus Falls is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Fergus Falls it frosts late in the year after May 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your balsam if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fergus Falls

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-30°F
Highest Expected Low	-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Fergus Falls

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fergus Falls.