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.

One way of estimating when it's the best time to plant balloon flower is to examine the USDA zone info for Ashland.

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.

Since balloon flower do ok in moderate cold you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant balloon flower in Ashland is March. However, you really should wait until April 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. If you wait any later than that and your balloon flower may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your balloon flower indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Ashland the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Ashland may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Ashland you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your balloon flower in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ashland

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Ashland

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