One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Crystal City you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant balloon flower by using 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.

You can plant balloon flower slightly earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant balloon flower in Crystal City is March. However, you really should wait until April 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 grow to maturity. Starting your balloon flower indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Crystal City. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Crystal City may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Crystal City you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your balloon flower if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Crystal City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Crystal City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Crystal City.