One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of estimating when you can plant balsam is to use the USDA zone info for Hillsboro.

Planting Calendar for Balsam

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

Since balsam require warm weather you need to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Hillsboro 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 really do well. If you are starting your balsam indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Hillsboro the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Hillsboro is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Hillsboro you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your balsam if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hillsboro

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Hillsboro

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