One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

You can estimate when you can plant balsam in Chardon by looking at 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.

You should not plant balsam until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Chardon 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. Starting your balsam indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Chardon 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 Chardon it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your balsam in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Chardon

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 Chardon

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