Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Turtle Creek you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant balsam by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Balsam

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

Balsam require warm weather which tells us that you really should wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Turtle Creek 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. Any later than that and 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 has passed is on April 15 in Turtle Creek. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Turtle Creek and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Turtle Creek last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your balsam in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Turtle Creek

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 Turtle Creek

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Turtle Creek.