When to Plant Balloon Flower in Lincoln, NE

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Lincoln you should be able to determine when it's possible to plant balloon flower.


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 a bit earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant balloon flower
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant balloon flower
Probably not a good time to plant balloon flower

The earliest that you can plant balloon flower in Lincoln 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. Any later than that and your balloon flower may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your balloon flower indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Lincoln. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Lincoln is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Lincoln you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your balloon flower if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Lincoln

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Lincoln

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