One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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 Clemson you can figure out when it's a good idea 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.

Since balsam require warm weather you must wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Clemson 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. If you wait any later than that and 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 few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on March 15 in Clemson. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Clemson is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Clemson last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to protect your balsam in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Clemson

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 Clemson

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