One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Potsdam it's a good idea to figure out when it's a good idea 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.

Balloon Flower are barely cold tolerant which tells us that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant balloon flower in Potsdam 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 balloon flower and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your balloon flower may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your balloon flower indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Potsdam the average date of last frost happens on May 15. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Potsdam may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Potsdam you get surprised by a frost after May 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your balloon flower if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Potsdam

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Potsdam

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