When to Plant Balsam in Prospect Park, PA

One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Prospect Park you can determine when it's the best time to plant balsam by referring to the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Balsam

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

Balsam are not cold tolerant which means that you must wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

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 Prospect Park 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 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 Prospect Park the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Prospect Park is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Prospect Park it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your balsam if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Prospect Park

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low0°F
Highest Expected Low5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Prospect Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Prospect Park.