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.

By using the USDA zone info for Oakmont it's a good idea to figure out when it's the best time to plant balsam.

Planting Calendar for Balsam

Frost tolerance for balsam:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Balsam are not cold tolerant which means that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Oakmont 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. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your balsam indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Oakmont. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Oakmont is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Oakmont there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your balsam if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Oakmont

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 Low	0°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 Oakmont

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