One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 can determine when you can plant balsam in Grand Rapids by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Balsam

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

Since balsam do not do well in cold weather it is necessary to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Grand Rapids 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 grow to maturity. 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 Grand Rapids. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -35°F.

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 is different every year. Half of the time in Grand Rapids you get surprised by a frost after May 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your balsam in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Grand Rapids

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 Grand Rapids

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