One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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 balloon flower in Northfield should be determined by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Balloon Flower

Frost tolerance for balloon flower:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Balloon Flower do ok in mild cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant balloon flower in Northfield 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 balloon flower and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your balloon flower may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your balloon flower indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Northfield the average date of last frost happens on May 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Northfield and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Northfield you get surprised by a frost after May 15 be ready to protect your balloon flower if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Northfield

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Northfield

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