One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant balsam in Minot can be figured out 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 when the weather gets warmer.

Since balsam require warm weather you have to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Minot 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 fully mature. If you are starting your balsam indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Minot. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -30°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Minot is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Minot you get surprised by a frost after May 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your balsam if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Minot

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-30°F
Highest Expected Low	-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Minot

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