One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

In Red Wing you can estimate when it's the best time to plant balsam by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Balsam

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant balsam until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Red Wing 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your balsam may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your balsam indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Red Wing. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Red Wing and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Red Wing you get a frost after May 15 be ready to protect your balsam if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Red Wing

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 Red Wing

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Red Wing.