One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

You will be able to determine when to plant balsam by using the USDA zone info for Talent.

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 all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Talent 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else 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

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Talent. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Talent is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Talent you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your balsam if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Talent

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 Talent

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