When to Plant Balsam in Winona, MN

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.

You can determine when it's possible to plant balsam in Winona by checking out the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Balsam

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

Balsam are not cold tolerant which means that you need to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

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 Winona 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. Starting your balsam indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on May 15 in Winona. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Winona is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Winona there is a last frost after May 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your balsam in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Winona

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 Winona

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