Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate 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 USDA zone info for Elon can be used to determine when it's possible to plant balsam.

Planting Calendar for Balsam

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

Since balsam are not cold tolerant it's necessary to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Elon 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 fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your balsam indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Elon. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Elon is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Elon there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your balsam if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Elon

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°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 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Elon

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