When to Plant Balsam in Lewistown, PA

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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Lewistown it's a good idea to figure out when it's a good idea to plant balsam.


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

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant balsam
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant balsam
Probably not a good time to plant balsam

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Lewistown 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 fully mature. Starting your balsam indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Lewistown. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Lewistown may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Lewistown last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your balsam in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lewistown

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 Low0°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 Lewistown

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