When to Plant Balsam in Stillwater, MN

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of determining when you can plant balsam is to refer to the USDA zone info for Stillwater.


Planting Calendar for Balsam

Frost tolerance for balsam: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After all chance of frost has passed.

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

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant balsam
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant balsam
Probably not a good time to plant balsam

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Stillwater 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Stillwater the average date of last frost happens on May 15. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Stillwater is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Stillwater there is a last frost after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your balsam in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Stillwater

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 Stillwater

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