Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant balsam in Forest can be estimated by referring to the USDA zone info.

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 has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Forest 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 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. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your balsam indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Forest. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Forest is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Forest it frosts late in the year after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your balsam if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Forest

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Forest

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