One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

In Suffern you can determine when it's a good idea to plant balsam by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Balsam

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

You can not plant balsam until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Suffern 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. Any later than that and your balsam may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your balsam indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Suffern the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Suffern and it is different every year. Half of the time in Suffern last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your balsam in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Suffern

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

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

Plants to Grow in Suffern

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