The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening 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 Patchogue you should be able to estimate when to plant balsam.

Planting Calendar for Balsam

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

It's 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 Patchogue 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. If you wait any later than that and your balsam may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your balsam indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Patchogue. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Patchogue and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Patchogue you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your balsam if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Patchogue

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Patchogue

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